The Sentai and the Cultist
by Somnium Lacertae
Summary: Genji/Zenyatta AU. On one side, the Sentai Rangers, pinnacle of heroism, protectors of the city. On the other, an evil creature on the rise with his army of monsters… and yet. And yet, something was missing. Something was not quite right. Genji just was not sure what, exactly, intrigued him so much about this Creature they called the Cultist.
1. Prologue

Hello :) I hope you can like this fic! I took vague inspiration from a fanart I've seen a bit ago, so I decided to work on this. It's a sentai!Genji and Cultist!Zenyatta but with a twist, so it's an AU. Please review if you like! You can also find it on AO3 under my penname Lacertae :)

Chapters updated weekly! prologue is short, normal chapters are longer :)

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 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

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 **Prologue**

It had been a year and a day since it had happened.

Zenyatta had been meditating, then, floating a few inches above a rock on a secluded shore, his face plate turned towards the sea.

It had been a bleak day, the sky grey and cloudy and the sea looking almost tumultuous, but Zenyatta had not minded –there was a certain beauty to be found even on such days, unrest in the air like a charge that he could almost taste.

The sea was still beautiful, even with this weather, and the waves crashing against the beach was pleasant to his auricular receptors just as much as their sight was for his optical ones.

He had been meditating, but not too deeply, for he enjoyed the sight and he would not linger much longer in this area, soon to return to his brothers and sister at the monastery, when something had fallen nearby, making a soft sound against the sand.

Zenyatta's optical receptors had powered up, surprised, and he had searched his surroundings, noticing that a little to the side, there was a small black ball which at first had looked completely blank, but as he hovered closer, curious, he could make out carvings all over its surface, just as dark as the metal of the ball itself.

He had never seen anything such as this before.

Still, even in his curiosity, he had not reached for the ball and had instead searched around himself. There was no one else anywhere, and he was not close enough to the water that it could have been washed to the shore…

With a click, the ball had moved one inch, and Zenyatta, startled, had looked back at it in time to see it shiver and then unravel upon itself, dissipating into a cloud of black mist.

He had no time to do anything, because then the mist grew in size, and his senses were assaulted with an incredible, overpowering Discord –enough that he staggered backwards, losing control over his hovering to fall closer to the sand, and then…

And then the mist had dawned on him, like a wave of darkness, submerging him.

In the minutes that followed, Zenyatta had known pain unlike any other.

What had looked like simple dark mist had been in truth thousands of nanomachines, smaller than the smallest he'd seen until then. They had attached themselves to every inch of his body, interfacing with his mainframe, connecting with the sensors and overcoming his defences, bugging out his program.

Zenyatta had dropped down, narrowly avoiding hitting the back of his head against a rock, and rolled onto the sand, choking on a sudden scream of pain.

The nanomachines violently fought to swarm inside him, and they were everywhere, and Zenyatta could feel them work, though he had no idea what they were doing.

Sand grated against his chassis and wriggled inside his body as he writhed and twitched, unable to escape the sudden assault that was everywhere around him.

The mala which had been dormant around his neck had fallen and rolled away from him, and Zenyatta, in an instinctive attempt to get away from the pain, had reached out one arm towards them, but to no avail –his connection with them was abruptly cut off, and another fresh wave of pain travelled through his servos, filling every wire and circuit with mind-numbing agony.

Zenyatta had fought against it –he could feel the nanomachines interfacing with his circuits, eroding his chassis, injecting him with new program data, reshaping parts of his body, changing him– but to no avail.

The pain was too strong for his processors to take or sort through, overwhelming in its intensity, and it had left him gasping and sobbing and clawing at the sand as he could feel, more than see, his body change and adapt to the new program overpowering him.

The nanomachines fought, and he fought back, anchoring his brain processes against the pain and standing his ground and when he'd thought he could no longer stall their advance, he had called upon the Iris, desperate and frantic, as a last resort.

The Iris had answered, a single second of mercy from the pain, golden light shining through the crevices of his body, glowing from the inside, pushing against the nanomachines but then–

–it was cut off.

Abruptly snuffed out, the Iris disappeared from under his touch, and it felt to Zenyatta as if something had been severed from him, the loss like a physical blow.

Shocked, in pain and alone, Zenyatta was left to scream and writhe and suffer as the nanomachines reworked him. For what felt like forever, he'd only known pain, and only when they were done was he allowed reprise, and the pain finally receded.

For a long time, Zenyatta had remained curled up in a ball of misery on the sand, uncaring about the grains grinding against his circuits, tired and aching and recovering from the pain that had fried so many of his sensors.

His servos responded to his check-up program, but his processes were sluggish, most of them barely online, and his battery had been depleted enough that red warnings flashed past his blurred subconscious, alerting him he was close to shutting down.

Yet, he made himself move.

Slowly, haltingly, he learned the new shapes of his body as he dragged his heavy frame across the sand and out of the beach area, synth cracking as it was flooded with sand grains.

It would take him hours longer to be able to stand up, realising that in this state he could barely control himself , let alone hover. It would take him longer to catalogue fully how much his body had changed, the new parts that had been added, his new appearance.

And then, some more time to find out he could no longer touch the Iris, nor feel its kind, gentle warmth shine inside his core, replaced with something colder, purple and vengeful.

Zenyatta had changed, and with that, he'd been forced away from his path and left on a different one, alone and stranded.


	2. Chapter 01

First chapter out!

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 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

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 **Chapter 01**

"Genji!"

Sprawled over a couch, tapping mindlessly on his tablet and following the zooms of his game avatar as it ran across the screen, Genji Shimada offered his friend Angela Ziegler a small grunt.

When it became clear he had no intention to look up, Angela took a long, suffering sigh.

"Genji!" she slid closer to him until she was towering above him, though Genji still did not look up from his tablet. "I called you twice, did you even hear me?"

"Hmm-mmmh," was his absent reply as he watched the small cutscene his avatar was doing in a prelude to a boss fight.

"We got a _call_!"

 _That_ did get Genji's attention. He dropped the tablet on the couch at his side and scrambled up to his feet, his apathetic expression gone and replaced with a serious, determined look. "Really? Who?"

Relieved she finally had his attention, Angela straightened her back. "There's been an attack not too far from here. Two monsters were spotted in the area, attacking different targets, and…" she hesitated, one hand caressing the bracelet around her wrist.

"What, Angela? Is there something else?"

She nodded, her expression stormy. "They say the Cultist has been sighted nearby as well. It's probable he's the one who orchestrated both attacks, as a way to divert our attention away from him."

Genji's face twisted in displeasure and he bit down on his lower lip, looking anywhere but at her. "Are you sure–"

"Genji." Angela reached out, grabbing one of Genji's wrists in her hands, and he reluctantly looked at her. "I don't know what reservations you have about that guy, but there is nothing redeemable about him. All he does is create a mess for us to clean up, and put people in danger. It is true that for now we have not witnessed any of his crimes, but we have plenty of proof of what he can do, and just how dangerous he can be."

"Look, I know that, but…" Genji tugged his wrist free, hands clenching down into fists. "I still feel like we're missing something here, alright?"

Angela shook her head but refrained from saying anything more on the subject. "We have to go. We've been dispatched to stop the monsters and we need to leave now. There's no time to stop and discuss about this again. We… we'll talk about this later, okay?"

Genji watched Angela turn around and leave his room, and he followed her, though he knew that 'later' would never happen, not when the Cultist was involved.

He was probably the only one who felt weirdly suspicious about the monster's habits, but even he had to admit that his hesitance was not caused by something specific –it was his instinct, really, and despite how much Genji trusted it, trusted himself, there had been many times he'd been wrong, in the past.

That did not make it any less difficult to ignore this feeling.

The building they lived in was divided in four main areas –the common area, the training grounds, the wing with their private rooms and the Observation Room. Angela headed to the Observation Room, followed closely by Genji though he was lost in thought, barely noticing the arrival of Lucio and Hana, both looking grim and ready for action.

The Observation Room had a giant screen in the middle, visible from the entrance doors, and it was lit when the four of them arrived, neatly divided in two parts and already showing live footage of both the monsters attacking the city.

One of the two monsters was a misshapen creature that looked like a mantis shrimp, its back multi-coloured and glistening under the sunlight, and it was chomping down on a wall, leaving behind bitten off chunks of concrete and half-broken cables fizzing with electricity.

The other monster was… Genji wasn't sure exactly what it was supposed to be. It was rounder, with a face split in two parts that kept opening and closing, like claws, but it wasn't anything he was familiar with, and it was already in its giant, expanded form, laughing maniacally as it kicked down trees and cars, people screaming as they ran away from danger.

The moment the four entered in the room, the live report moved to the lower part of the screen, and the upper part flickered and became the familiar face of Winston, face smashed against the camera as he pushed his glasses up his nose.

"Uhh… as you've seen, we've got quite a problem here. Or, well. Two of them."

"You could say we've got a double trouble," Genji muttered half-heartedly, smirking at Lucio when he heard him snort.

"Yeah, well, You'll split up in two groups and head over to dispose of the monsters. The Masked Vigilante has been alerted as well, and will join you there." Winston pulled back, and the screen wavered, replacing his face with that of his AI, Athena.

Her face was glowing blue, a vibrant electric colour that wavered at the edges. "Green Sentai and White Sentai will deal with the Shrimp Monster, while Pink and Blue Sentai will deal with the Oyster, and–"

"So _that's_ what that is!" Genji's exclamation was shushed by his three companions, and he rolled his eyes before addressing the most pressing problem. "What about the Cultist?"

"Genji, we're not letting you face him again, it's not _safe,_ " Hana glared at him, lips pursed in a frown. "Last time he almost convinced you to _listen_ to him!"

Genji felt his cheeks burn a bit in embarrassment, though he had no trouble defending himself, even if she was right.

The Cultist had been really eloquent, had sounded honestly insistent for Genji to listen, that he had something important to say, that he had no animosity towards the Sentai Ranger nor towards the other heroes, and Genji…

"I still say nothing bad would happen if we just listened to him, that's all." He muttered, but his words were once again brushed off.

He could understand their reticence –it was not the first time one of the bad guys had tried to fool the heroes only to attack them once their guard was lowered, but…

But.

It did not matter to Genji that the Cultist had such a creepy, scary appearance, and he did not even care for the aura of dread that seemed to follow him everywhere he went. Something inside Genji told him that he had to listen, and he could not just push that thought away, no matter how much he tried to ignore it.

There was no more time to lose, though, and Genji took off first, wanting to get to the monster as soon as possible to prevent any more damage to the city.

He would have preferred picking on the giant… Oyster, really, as it was the one that was attacking people and making more of a ruckus, but he trusted Athena's decision, and if she'd directed him to toe shrimp it meant he would face a greater challenge against that one, which was all he was about, really.

"Sentai, go!" he screamed, lips pulling up in a wide smile as he reached out for the watch around his wrist, setting it off to start his transformation in Sentai Ranger.

A flash of energy coalesced around him, with the overlapping impression of a roaring, green dragon curling around his body, and then his costume appeared around him, metal and fabric mixing together until at last, the mask covered his face.

Behind him, he heard Hana, Lucio and Angela do the same, activating their devices in tandem, though he did not turn around to look.

Soon all four of the Sentai Rangers were running out of the base, then split up.

Angela –White Sentai– and Genji, now donning the costume of Green Sentai, both took off to the right. Genji jumped high, his training and augmented abilities allowing him to climb higher and higher on a tall, vertical wall until he was dashing across the rooftops.

Angela waited until Genji was sprinting in the distance, then stretched out her right hand and her bracelet, now a bigger jewel wrapped around her wrist, morphed into a long staff that she pointed at him.

"Caduceus Staff – Angelic Descent!"

A stream of white light enveloped the tip of her staff, attaching itself to Genji's form as he jumped out of sight.

Instantly, the connected thread tugged her along and she flew behind him, quickly reaching his side, the wings on the back of her costume halting her dash to match Genji's speed, so she could keep close to him as he sprinted onwards.

"It should not take long for us to defeat the monster, then we can join the others," Angela called out to him, and Genji grunted his assent, putting more strength into his strides until he was almost a blur, jumping and running at an incredible speed.

Through it, Angela continued to follow him, deftly avoiding any obstacle, twisting in mid-air and sometimes landing and jumping to follow him, her mechanical wings flaring with energy as she kept her staff trained on him to maintain the connection active.

"Keep your eyes open, Green Sentai," Angela called out for him as they got closer and closer to where the monster had been sighted. "We don't know where the Cultist might hide. I will not allow you to get hurt. Not on my watch."

Genji sighed, but nodded.

He was grateful she was protective, as he'd gotten hurt more than once, and he knew that she was only looking out for him, especially after the last time…

Uncomfortable at the reminder of his one big failure, Genji rubbed one hand on his throat. He'd needed an operation, and part of his mouth and throat were now mechanic, after an attack from one particularly strong monster that had almost ripped him in half. It did not truly bother him, not anymore, though he had to have aid breathing normally after any heavy activity where he did not have his mask's breather active as he did while on sentai duty, but for months it had been hard to cope with the situation or the changes, and he knew his friends and teammates only wished to make sure nothing like that happened again.

"Here it is!" Genji finally located the monster.

True to the footage Winston had showed them earlier, the monster seemed intent in bringing down random walls in a non-populated area of the city and with no apparent pattern that Genji could recognize.

The shrimp monster chomped down on a hydrant, gnawing at it until part of it broke, but not enough to start a jet of water, then observed the damage and moved on.

It did not make any sound, nor did it grin in satisfaction, like other monsters Genji had met before.

"Let's go, White Sentai!"

"Yes! Powered up!" Angela flicked her staff and channelled through her powers and the white stream tinged with blue as she fuelled her energy into turning Genji's attacks up a notch.

The powers granted to her by her morphing suit were mostly support, healing and empowering others, but if it needed be, she had quite a good aim and a secondary weapon to defend herself with and aid her companions.

Still, Genji estimated it would not be needed.

"Monster! Cease and desist, for the Sentai Rangers have arrived!" he jumped down, rolling when he reached the ground, and stopped a few feet away from the monster, who was startled out from its eating, pieces of the concrete falling from its mouth. "With the fiery might of a Dragon, Green Sentai is here!"

Angela landed softly behind him, wings spread behind her and Caduceus staff glowing brightly. "With the grace of a Swan, White Sentai arrives!"

The monster turned slowly to look at them.

For a moment, Genji thought it looked tired –perhaps it had munched on too much heavy concrete, who knew– then it seemed to grow onto itself, squaring its shoulders, and its mouth, as inhuman as it could be, parted into a flurry of tiny tentacles.

"Rangers, huh? Finally, someone deigned to come!" the voice was rough from disuse, deep and raspy, and Genji winced in sympathy before the monster continued, in a pompous tone, "Bow to me, Rangers, as I will destroy your city!"

"Not on my watch, monster!"

His words had the monster twitch, and if Genji had been looking, he would have though it seemed a wince –but Genji was focusing on the future battle, and the small movement went unnoticed. "Yes, monster. I'm a monster, so you'd better take me seriously or I'm going to eat you just like I ate all this concrete!"

Then, the battle truly began.

Genji dashed forwards, shuriken flipping out from a slot on his arm, and he threw them at the monster, who deflected them easily with one part of its thick keratin cover, making them rebound away from it. With a hiss, Genji bounced high in the air, Angela following him closely but staying a little on the side, ready to switch from damage boost to heal should he need it.

"You have to be faster if you wish to harm me, sentai," the monster growled at him, sounding annoyed, goading him, and Genji smirked underneath his mask.

"I do like a good challenge, you creep!"

He attempted another set of shuriken but was once more deflected, the attack not even leaving a scratch on the monster's body, so he cracked his knuckles together. "Angela, close-combat now!"

"Understood!"

"Sentai power attack, Dragon Blade unleashed!"

With a sharp flick of his hand, Genji brought his left hand down from his right shoulder to the wrist, and green, thick smoke raised under his touch, sailing in the air and glowing before it solidified into the edge of a sharp blade, its hilt in his hand, ready for combat.

"Let's see how you fare against my sharp blade, monster! Ha!" Genji darted forwards, empowered by the energy he could feel channelled into his body by Angela's staff, and he clashed against the monster, who used one of his armoured arms to par his blade.

Again, then once more, the two slammed against one another. They rolled around, jumped and parred then attacked again. Genji's sword ricocheted on the monster's colourful shell, as if it was having no effect on it, not even to slow it down, until–

Finally, a crack appeared on the edge of the monster's thick shield, and Genji smiled under his mask as the monster slipped and fell in front of him, one clawed hand coming to rest above the damaged area.

"Now it's the time for my final move. Dragon, surge forwards and lend me your power!" as he focused deep inside him, he felt the power of the Dragon Spirit living within him answer his plea, its intangible form appearing as a ghostly aura around him.

Genji breathed deeply, feeling the fierce power of the spirit burn through his veins, hot like fire, filling him with determination and cockiness as he prepared to attack the monster and finish it, in his excitement not even noticing how little the monster had cared to attack back.

"Dragon Spirit, rise! Dragon Blade, slash true!"

Getting into position, Genji darted forwards, empowered by both Angela's staff and his own dragon, and the dragon soared above him and flung itself into his blade, which flashed brightly, green light bathing everywhere around him.

The monster stared at him, frozen in fear, though it wasn't shivering or cowering, it was just… sitting there, obviously cowed and having given up, and Genji raised his blade, ready to finish it–

"No."

The attack came from above, and Genji had not expected it.

Something ricocheted against the edge of his blade inches from the monster's chest, pushing it to the side, and Genji stumbled and missed, his speed losing momentum as he was unable to recalibrate, having been so focused on the monster he had not seen the attack coming.

Something flew sharply around him, and Genji, following his instincts, flung his weapon against it, missing once, then again, then–

Something hit the edge of his sword once again, and Genji felt it resonate in his hands, making him almost drop the sword as he winced and avoided more of the projectiles coming his way.

Nullified, his dragon attack faded into nothing, losing its strength as the dragon slithered out of his blade and fused back into Genji's body.

Flummoxed, Genji straightened his back and followed the projectiles back to who'd sent them, finding himself staring at the Cultist standing straight on top of a nearby wall, one hand stretched out towards him.

He looked imposing, an aura of darkness clinging to him. His face was in part obscured by his hood, but his eyes and the array blinking on his forehead were both glowing ominously.

Anger filled Genji's body, together with a weird excitement pooling into his guts, like any other time he and the Cultist had clashed against one another.

"How dare you stop me!"

"You will not harm him." The Cultist spoke, clearly, despite the distance between them.

Genji heard Angela flutter and land near him, and he felt her aid cut off all of sudden as her staff turned into her laser weapon that she pointed at the Cultist's head, though he did not look bothered by that.

"Come down and face me, instead of cowering that far, monster!" Genji goaded him, feeling empowered by the fact that the Cultist was keeping his distance.

"I do not think that would be ideal, no," the monster replied, his voice even.

The tentacles around his face wriggled lazily as he spoke, and he curled both hands in front of himself as his weapon of choice, a line of nine orbs with glowing, creepy eyes on them, circled around him, slowly.

Ready to attack, probably, and Genji forgot, momentarily, his own reservations about the monster.

This was not the first time he'd appeared to stop them from ending one of the monsters they'd found, and it was one of the main reasons none of the other sentai, nor Winston, agreed with Genji about the monster not wishing to fight.

"You won't get away with this one this time, Cultist!" Angela took a step forwards, her weapon still pointed at the monster's head.

"Do you wish to stop me, White sentai?" the Cultist murmured, no anger or spite in his voice, just a quiet amusement. "You won't. They will come with me."

He turned to look at the monster on the ground, who was now growling, utterly angry. It was still clutching at its damaged body, but did not look grateful that the Cultist –a monster of a higher level, so dangerous that the sentai never attacked unless they were all together– had arrived to help.

Genji wondered about that, but chalked it up to not being able to best the sentai heroes by itself, which was the most probable reason.

"Get away!" the monster seemed to regain some energy and attempted to stand up, its attention entirely focused on the Cultist for a split second before he turned to the rangers. "I was so close! So close! You won't take that away from me!"

Taken aback by the sudden ferocity, Genji took a step back, though his lips were pulled up in a sarcastic smirk under the mask. "As if, my guy, I was the one who was about to get you shoved back where you came from! And I can still do it, just watch me!"

Angela did not switch back to her staff, her weapon still trained at the Cultist as Genji readied his blade once again, about to leap at the monster, who had straightened its back and was pointing both clawed hands at him, then–

The Cultist moved.

With the sort of grace that one would not expect to see from a monster he descended from the wall, landing quietly between Genji and the monster, one arm stretched out towards the two sentai, his disgusting orbs spinning lazily around him, eyes blinking and peering one direction, then another, in a weird orbit.

"I said I won't allow you to."

The orbs flashed their way, faster than either Genji and Angela could see –one slammed into her wrist, and she let out a soft gasp and the sting, dropping her laser gun and watching it vanish away, recalled through her powers.

Genji avoided the first two orbs by sheer instinct, but the third one brushed against his sword, and he fumbled with his grip on it, the situation made worse when more orbs focused on him, pushing him back as he kept avoiding them.

"Stop doing this! We're doing this community a service by removing these monsters!" Genji called out.

"We'll make sure to remove you as well!" Angela stepped close to Genji, her fingers splayed out as she prepared to summon her staff out once more.

"Again, that will not happen. I am not here to fight you." The Cultist did not turn away from them, his expression severe, green eyes glowing eerily from underneath his cloak, tentacles squirming on his face.

Genji shivered, feeling like the monster was staring deep into his soul, and that he'd just come out of it lacking.

As if following an unspoken command, the orbs chimed with a metallic, almost pleasant sound, and vibrated in mid-air, their surface coating itself with purple, and Genji and Angela gasped out at the horrible sensation pouring out from them, the Discord flowing so easily to their minds that their instinctual reaction was to pull back and put more distance between themselves and the two monsters.

It was enough for the Cultist to crouch next to the other monster, though his eyes were still trained on the two sentai, and place one hand on the monster's shoulder.

"Come," he murmured. It was not a request –it was a command, at least for Genji.

The monster appeared to hesitate only for a split second, then he crumpled, submitting to the will of the other, more powerful entity.

He nodded, and the Cultist seemed satisfied. With a steady hold on the monster's arm, he tugged him upwards, and with a graceful jump, he moved away from the ground and onto a nearby wall.

"Farewell, sentai. Until next time."

And then he was gone, and the orbs vibrating with discord followed him, leaving Genji and Angela frazzled but unhurt, though their minds were shaking under the small contact with the Cultist's assault.

"He… he got away again." Angela's hands were shaking, and Genji pressed one hand on her shoulder, though his was shaking just as much. "I just… I wanted to attack, but those orbs…"

"I felt it too. Just like last time." Genji gritted his teeth, displeased, frustrated.

He'd wanted to be able to meet with the Cultist on his own, try to reason with him, ask why he kept preventing them from killing some monsters but not all of them, why he did not attack but used such horrid, unpleasant orbs to make the sentai keep their distance, and yet…

The discord he'd felt in his heart, the sudden fear of not being good enough, of failing, of being useless, had stopped him.

"What absurd, cruel power," Angela hissed, now more angry at herself than scared. "We… we need to go back to the others. They might still be fighting and what if the Cultist goes where they are?"

"He wouldn't dare if all of us are there," Genji clenched both hands, but nodded his assent, time making the onslaught of Discord fade from his mind.

"Then let's make sure we offer a united front, just in case. One day… one day, I will be able to take down that threat."

"… let's go, White sentai."

When he judged there was enough distance between them and the two sentai, the Cultist's shoulders dropped a little, and he finally stopped to let go of the shrimp monster, that slumped down on the ground and glared up at him.

There was so much animosity in that stare, though the Cultist looked back, unimpressed.

"I know of you," the monster hissed, words bubbling strangely in its mouth. "Everybody talks about you, creating your own army, amassing followers like paws. I won't be one of them. I don't care if you think you 'saved' me from the sentai rangers. I won't be used when I was so close to…"

"You are wrong." The Cultist's voice was almost gentle now, and the jarring change between his serious tone from before and this made the monster stutter, and quieten. "I have no army to speak of."

"Everybody knows it. You whisk away monsters from the rangers with no consistency, and that's why you're called the Cultist –they _fear_ you, and your cult of monsters. Well, fuck off will ya? I ain't interested."

The tentacles around the Cultist's mouth wriggled and his eyes glowed green under his hood. Around him, the nine orbs blinked and fluttered, hovering in a lazy circle.

"Is that so? Why is that? You wish to destroy the city on your own? You wish to exact revenge from the sentai, from the people of this city, who dare to live their lives normally and hate you?"

"I… no!" the monster stood up, staggering a bit with the wound to its keratin skin, and took another step back. "I don't care! I was so close, so close–"

"–to allowing the sentai to trap you, for their creatures to exorcise you?" the Cultist interrupted him again. "I know this was your goal. It is why I stopped them. It is why I rescued you."

"If you think you gained a follower like that, you're seriously more fucked up than I thought. Destroy me if you want, I don't care!"

"…" the Cultist shook his head, and the orbs around him bled discord, one that came from within him, thick and deep like grief. "I would never harm you. I know, my dear," and under the monster's shocked eyes, he took a step forwards, extending both arms towards him. "I know that you were once a human."

The monster drew back, shocked, in turmoil. "No! I… h-how?!" for a split second, despite its horrendous, scary appearance, the monster appeared fragile, weak. "I… you–"

"My dear, I am but one like you, except I did not start as a human, but as an omnic." The Cultist sighed quietly. "I went by the name Tekhartha Zenyatta before, though now… like this, with this new appearance… my name was lost and abandoned. But I will not allow anyone to forget who they were, even if now they appear different. The soul within is still the same, and it is that which I sought to help."

"Tekh–" the monster spluttered, confused, unable to believe, the name a familiar beacon in its mind. "The… the Shambali?!"

"Yes. I know you feel hatred now for what you became, and there is no explanation I can offer –I have found none for my own transformation, either– but you are not alone, even if no one was willing to listen before. They run, they're afraid, frightened by your appearance, as if something prevents them to listen when they look at you." The Cultist… Zenyatta… stepped forwards again, and the monster this time did not flinch away, a new desperate glint in its eyes, claws clenched down hard on the concrete of the ground below him. "Wishing to give yourself up to the rangers will do nothing good for you, and I cannot truly offer you hope, but I can offer you a safe haven. The Shambali will welcome you under my name, they will protect you and seek out to contact anyone you wish, and–" at the monster's full body flinch, Zenyatta continued "if you wish for no one to be contacted, you will stll be free to stay with them. We do not cast away anyone, and…" he hesitated, then pointed at his body. "I changed. I learned to look further than one's appearance, and was able to see, thanks to my abilities that I was not the only one. Now I seek to find and offer refuge to the ones who are lost, like me. Go to the Shambali, my friend. You are not alone, and you do not need to suffer or punish yourself for something you cannot control."

"But I… this…" the monster choked, voice full of tears that it could not spill. "This is horrid. I'm mostruous. My spouse… my own twin, they– they…" it crumpled down in a heap, shaking, claws grasping at the ground. "They would not listen, even when I tried to tell them that it was me. They chased me out, screamed, cried for help until I ran. I just wanted this disgusting body to be gone. I wanted to go back. I…"

"I understand, my friend. Rejection is painful, but you do not deserve to suffer further. You are not a monster. I see you. I feel it, right here." Zenyatta pressed a gentle hand above the monster's chest. "Many of my abilities abandoned me when I was turned, but this… this did not. In fact, I am more tuned with my senses like this than I was before. Your discord, your pain –the true form of your soul. I can feel it. You are no monster."

The monster choked on its voice, and allowed Zenyatta to wrap his arms around its shaking shoulders, and to hold him until the shaking subsided, much later, though no tears could drop from its eyes.

It had been a while since anyone had willingly touched it, or offered something different from spite, hatred and distrust.

"If… if I go to the Shambali… will you come with me?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot be seen associating with them. I have acquired a bad fame. My name… the name this persona gained was forced on me just the same as my change, but I need to continue. The Shambali need to keep clear, so they can help others like you while I seek out the truth."

"But… you work alone, then?" the monster extended one shaky arm, barely daring to brush its claws on Zenyatta's shoulder. "Do you… do you miss them?"

"I do. But my brother converses with me on videocalls, and though I cannot meet with him, I know his spirit is always by my side." Zenyatta's tone was mournful, the sadness bleeding from his synth.

The shrimp looked at him for a long time, then– "I… I will go. To the Shambali."

Zenyatta could not smile, but the tentacles covering his mouth piece wriggled, and the dot on his forehead array burned green in happiness. "Thank you. Please, send my brother Mondatta all my love. I am still searching, but so far, I have not been able to find anything."

"If… if you find a way to…"

"Do not fear, my friend. I will call, and you all will know."

"… thank you, Cul– Zenyatta. I was… I was ready to give up, let the rangers seal me away, so long as I could no longer see this body, but…"

"My friend, I understand. I am glad I found you, though. Will you tell me, before you go, what is your name?"

"Ah… my name…" again, the monster's tone sounded choked. "I was… I was called… I _am_ called… Theo."

And as he murmured his name for the first time in what felt like forever, after months of running, denying his past, denying himself because of his new appearance, the monster whose name was Theo, who had once been a human and who still had a human soul, felt the tiniest sparkle of hope ignite within his chest.

Zenyatta gently brushed one hand against his face, welcoming, soft and gentle.

"Well met, Theo. It is a pleasure."


	3. Chapter 02

A new chapter out :)

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Chapter 02**

 _~One year earlier~_

The first reaction Zenyatta had as he looked at his own reflection was denial.

He could not identify himself with what looked back at him, and he felt a strong, overwhelming need to scream, but his synth fizzled and stuttered without a sound coming through.

What a horrifying sight –he could see it was no dream, though for a moment he felt disconnected with what looked back at him, and the glowing, creepy face plate looking back at him had nothing he could recognise.

The eye slots were green, like molten uranium, and even the forehead array that had been once nine points was now different, and just as green. Even though his visage was just as incapable of expressing emotion as his old one had been, where his original face had been meant to convey softness, a welcoming sight, this one looked evil, mean –the curve above his optical receptors made them appear to be frowning, glaring at the world.

More than that, he looked… frightening.

This was a twisted nightmare, and Zenyatta felt panic settle in.

He could feel the tentacles covering his mouth wriggle lethargically, and each time one brushed against another he shivered, the sensation ghastly where before there had been smooth, immobile metal.

Zenyatta could not run from his appearance, could not run from himself, but even facing what he became took more energy than he had left; he turned around, refusing to think, but everywhere he looked he still was aware of his new appearance.

The orbs circling him could see –his processors were aware of that, and a new part of his brain inspected the data they sent him and analysed it, and through their lazy circles, Zenyatta kept finding his own reflection multiplied from nine different points of view.

Metal a polished purple, a dark cape, chains broken on one end wrapped around his wrists like misshapen restraints, giving him the air of something that had just broken free, a monster that should have remained caged in the depths of the sea.

Zenyatta found himself nowhere to be seen.

With a small cry, Zenyatta pushed the orbs away, but no matter where they spun, they still circled back on him, endlessly.

Torturing him.

There was no escape for his appearance, no way to deny it, and he was reminded every time the tentacles on his face brushed against one another, cool and smooth, and every time Zenyatta shuddered and flinched.

What had happened to him? The question circled endlessly through his brain, slowing down his processes, but he had no answer.

The nanites, obviously, and yet… how? _Why_?

Almost sobbing, Zenyatta attempted to reach for the Iris, only to find nothing in its place, the cut contact a painful wound within his soul, an ache he could not soothe, replaced with something thick and painful –Discord unlike any he'd played with before.

An endless pit of rage, and hurt, and distrust, and he could reach out and touch it just as he had before with the tranquil pool of Harmony, and–

Zenyatta winced away from the feeling, frightened.

Nowhere to run, when you were running from yourself.

He did not wish to be alone, and the sudden urge to see Mondatta surged from his core like a physical pain, a longing twice as strong as it had been before.

Unbidden, the belief that Mondatta would know how to help, would not let him flounder alone through this hell came to him like a respite, pushing down the fear enough that Zenyatta could focus, if only for a moment. He had to find a way to contact his brother, and the Shambali.

They would help him, and he would go back home.

Stumbling down the empty road, a few buildings visible in the distance, Zenyatta clung to what little energy he had left, and hoped to find a way to contact his brother.

He needed help.

 _~Present time~_

When Genji and Angela joined the rest of their team, they found them in the middle of a battle, and just as Winston had said, the Masked Vigilante was present on site as well.

Lucio and Hana, dressed up in their respective sentai attires, were busy parring the attacks from the Oyster, though its size had doubled since Genji had last seen it.

They were both moving fast, dancing around the monster, yet appeared to be doing not much damage to it, and though they hit it more than it hit back, it did not seem to tire. The Masked Vigilante was standing away from them, relying on his precise aim to shoot sharp fire bullets towards the monster's feet, making it more difficult for it to stomp and move around, keeping it away from the sentai so it would not land any dangerous blows.

The Masked Vigilante was not part of the sentai rangers, but was an old friend of Winston's and was doing work as a lone hero, offering his help to whoever was in need. In the past, he and Winston had apparently done some hero business together, long before Winston had decided to fund the sentai. He specialised in long-range attacks, so he was not as good as the sentai were at dealing close damage, but his eyes were sharp, and his aim even sharper.

So was his wit, and Genji appreciated his help.

"Blue sentai, Pink sentai, we're here!" Angela called out.

Lucio easily avoided a hit from the monster and spun around to look at them, then made a small motion with his hand, summoning his rollerblades, which fizzed to life at the base of his soles. Faster than before, he rushed towards Hana, offering her a hand; she grabbed it without hesitation and he whirled around the monster, who attempted to land a hit on them but couldn't due to his speed, then abruptly changed directions and spun towards his companions, still holding onto Hana.

Genji noticed she was not in her combat-mech yet, instead dealing close ranged damage with her hand-held weapon.

"Green sentai! White sentai! Finally decided to join in the fun?"

Genji moved to stand at Hana's side. "How come you aren't in your mech, Pink sentai?"

"I wanted to, but the monster increased in size, and I thought I would not have as much mobility if I chose to go on attack mode. Lucio suggested to wait until you deigned to join us! You did get here faster than I thought."

"The Cultist stole our enemy again." Angela's voice was sour, though her eyes were trained on the Oyster monster, and though she was wearing a mask, Genji was sure she was frowning underneath it.

"Well, shit," Lucio murmured, and behind them, the Masked Vigilante snorted, breaking the serious mood.

"Sorry, sorry, not used to you cursing still," he called out when all four sentai turned to stare at him.

"We've been fighting monsters on the same side for a couple months now," Hana's voice was amused. "He curses _plenty_."

The Vigilante's chuckle was deep in his throat, rich and amused, and it made Genji's lips twitch upwards as well. They were not yet friends, as they interacted only long enough to deal with monsters, so neither knew the others' secret identities yet, but they were getting there.

"We've got a jar for both of them, you know," he said as he dashed to the Masked Vigilante, lifting one hand in salute. "One coin for every curse."

"Useful for pizza Fridays," he replied, making Genji's grin grow. "Well then, what are we going to do with this big lug here?"

Lucio stretched his legs, hands clenched into fists. "I think it's time to roll, Green Sentai! White Sentai, some support would be great!"

Angela nodded and turned her staff to him, a stream of blue light connecting with his frame. "I'm with you!"

Lucio grinned under his mask, pointing both hands down. "Speed boost, activate! Rollers!" a flash of blue energy twirled around the base of his feet, and then he was gone again, dashing towards the monster at full speed, with Angela in tow.

"Green sentai, combine with me!" Hana called out to him, and he nodded.

Hana turned to stare at the monster, who despite having two sentai to keep it occupied was growing larger and larger, clearly sensing that they were about to become dangerous.

"Calling forth my mech, , Combat Matrix activate!"

Genji watched as the powers that Hana controlled wrapped around her in a pink twirl, flashing as the mech weapon materialized around her –a giant, destructive assault machine with laser beams and an increased offensive power. She had less mobility like that, which was why she relied on a companion to aid her with that, but her attack power made her almost unstoppable.

He waited until she was safely sitting into it before jumping into the air, both he and Hana calling out together, "Sentai rangers, combine!" to activate their shared power.

The Mech's top half expanded into a neat platform for Genji to land onto, a transparent protective shield activating in front of him together with a small railing so he would not fall off in case Hana had to make a dive or roll in mid-air.

Green and Pink hues mixed together as two arms expanded on either side of the mech, adding a pair of giant mechanical hands holding a sword to the laser beam jets already installed on it, and Genji summoned his blade through his powers, setting in attack mode.

As he positioned himself, ready to do some damage, so did the arms connected to the mech. "Ready, Pink sentai?"

Her smug, excited voice answered through the speakers, echoing around Genji. "Whenever you want, Green sentai!"

"Then let's go! Let's mince some monster meat!"

Despite the size of the monster, the battle did not last for long.

The sentai were organized and powerful, and once they worked together, few monsters could stand against them to tell the tale. The Masked Vigilante jumped in to give a hand right away, bursts of fire exploding from his weapon to keep the monster contained where it could not damage too much property, and that helped the sentai finish the job sooner than expected.

Afterwards, they all piled up on top of 's mech, Hana piloting it towards the base.

They left the Masked Vigilante behind them, and he watched them go, pistol raised in the sky as a salute, until they were gone.

For the first few minutes, all four sentai remained quiet, appreciating the fact that they would not need to walk back home so they could rest after the fight, but Genji had something in his mind, and he knew that if he did not speak up, the others would not.

"I wonder why the Cultist did not choose the Oyster monster instead of the Shrimp."

That roused Angela's attention, and she turned towards him. Other than Hana, the others had all reverted to their normal clothes, so he could see the displeased twist of her lips from where he was sitting.

"What does it matter which one he picked? We still only got to defeat one instead of two."

"Yes but… the Shrimp was tough, but not invincible. Athena sent us to fight that one, and I thought it would put up more of a fight, but…" Genji worried his lower lips.

The fight with the Oyster monster had made him think, and he could not, in the aftermath, say that his fight with the Shrimp had been hard at all. The monster had barely fought back despite its boastful words about being close to defeat them, while the Oyster had been much stronger, and it had taken them the combined effort of all four of them plus their ally to finally exorcise it.

It made no sense for a creature who was amassing an army of monsters to pick the weaker of the two, and the Cultist had shown in the past to have quite a good spy network, though so far he had not discovered their secret identities, which was… good, at least.

If he'd known, he would have attacked them for sure, but so far they had managed to protect their secret enough. Genji was not sure how long that would last, but for now, he thanked whatever luck they had.

Even their base was well masked, so as long as they tried to be sneaky while morphing, it would be alright… he hoped.

"Maybe he's making sure his followers don't dare to bite back and betray him to take his place," Lucio optioned, though he took Genji's point with a small nod. "Or it's just he's picking the ones he will use as sacrifices later on. Just sayin', he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who has much care for his underlings."

Genji had to admit that it could be –but for someone creating an entire cult devoted to him, it didn't seem to make sense to pick weak, disgruntled pawns instead of ones who could offer a fight.

If there was something else brewing under the surface, Genji needed to try and find out, but the Cultist was elusive despite his obvious appearance, and kept vanishing without a trace even with their attempts at tracking him down.

His abilities were mostly unknown, and Genji had no idea if he could even fight, or if the full extent of his powers relied solely on the creepy-ass orbs and their power to make others feel an onslaught of dark emotions.

"Maybe we can get Genji to ask him properly next time," Hana told them through the mic, her voice openly sarcastic. "He seems like all he wants is talk to that creep." A beat, then "Not that I'm judging, we all got our kinks–"

" _Hana_!"

"Oh, c'mon, I did not need to hear that–"

"–I mean, if Genji's type is the kind with wriggly tentacles around a mouth and ominous bad feelings surrounding him, who am I to judge–"

"Oh my _god_ –"

" _Hana_ –"

Genji hid his face in his hands, though he was not truly embarrassed –he and Hana often bantered and joked with one another, so he'd expected her to try this angle with him at some point, but…

He could not even fake being angry, when her words rang true.

Despite how dangerous he looked and how, just like the other monsters, he had an aura of evil and darkness surrounding him, Genji still wished to talk with him. He had no idea if it was part of some evil scheme, if he had been bewitched –though how? Nothing the Cultist had done had been singling Genji out in the least– or what else, but… he wanted to.

The instinct to fight the monster was just as great, though, and the two battled inside him quite fiercely, with none of the two ever gaining the upper end.

After all, the Cultist did look frightening, in a way most other monsters, who were merely grotesque or ugly, could not manage, and his powers were subtler, scarier; it was obvious he was at an entirely different level from them, and Genji was wary of him despite everything.

Lucio shifted a little to press one comforting hand on Genji's shoulder. "Buddy, I know you think the best of everyone, but it's a monster we're talking about. We have enough proof of his wrongdoings, how many people he attacked, and there were even a lot of casualties, so it's not like he's pristine and innocent here. We ought to protect this city, not walk into obvious traps just because you want to try and figure out a monster's motivations."

"Lucio is right. It could be anything, even him wanting to take over another monster's territory, and it wouldn't concern us." Angela's expression, usually so sweet, was hardened in determination. "You just do not try to talk it out with them, Genji –that's not how it works. It will only leave you distraught when they don't act humane. They _aren't_ human."

And of course Genji understood –he knew far too well that Angela herself had lost someone important during the monster uprising that had started around three years before for unknown circumstances. Her younger brother had been a victim of a monster attack around one year into the conflict, when the monsters that kept appearing had doubled in numbers.

The creature that had killed Engel had been found on the scene afterwards, holding in its claws ripped shreds of his clothes and blood on the floor, on the walls and on the furniture, and on the monster too. It had lashed at Angela, who had been the one to find him, before disappearing.

Angela was not a vengeful person –her work with the sentai was so that she could prevent more casualties, so that no other family would go through what she had– but Genji still worried about her, and what would happen if that monster was to be found again.

Well, unless it had been slain already by some other group of vigilante heroes somewhere else. He knew Angela kept tabs and contacts with many people around the nation, others who were in similar situations, cities swarmed with monsters, but… he had no idea how likely that would be.

So far, many nations were under similar assaults. It was usually big cities, so rural towns were safer than not, and with the aid from the UN and various private and public research groups, people from all over the world attempted to find a way to stop the monsters and finally end this uprising.

Still it seemed like none had any luck for now, and without an insight on their nature, it was even harder.

Genji knew some groups had offered to capture monsters to use as specimen for experiments, but despite the monsters being ruthless and evil, most had ruled out that option, as the monsters were, in the end, capable of thought and speech, and it would be inhuman to experiment on them unless one willingly stepped forwards –and obviously none would.

He did wonder, though, if perhaps such experiments were conducted anyway, in privacy and away from those who would stop them. If they were, Genji knew nothing of it.

The thought still sent a shiver down his back, regardless –the idea that it could happen, even to one of those monsters…

Genji fought those monsters almost daily. He faced them on the battlefield, prevented them from harming civilians, and then struck back and exorcised them; of all people, he should agree with more drastic methods of dealing with monsters, with all the damage and death they caused, and yet…

The sentai used their specific powers to weaken, incapacitate and wound the monsters, and then employed the weapon Winston had devised specifically for this purpose, and channelling their powers through it, they sent the monsters back to whatever universe they belonged to.

Winston had explained how it worked, back when Genji had joined the sentai project, though it had been a lot of specific terminology and stuff he was not that good at, so most of it had gone over his brain, but he knew the basics of it.

Most heroes had no similar help, but the ones who were under the tutelage of the UN employed Winston's machines to exorcise the creatures.

Some monsters were just nuisances, barely able to do real damage, and those ended up sent back without much trouble, but… there were those who ended up eliminated instead. Those were the monsters who caused the most damage, who were dangerous to the point of having killed or assaulted humans, who could not be allowed to be free, not if there was a chance they could be back.

There were monsters who ended up hunted down by lone vigilantes or hired mercenaries, and those ended up dead regardless, but there was a difference between ending an opponent's life due to their ferocity and experiment on them against their will… and Genji did not wish to cross that line.

As there was no understanding about how the monsters arrived on this plane of existence in the first place, the fact that they knew how to send them back was at least enough, for now, but Winston had a lot of work to do with his colleagues still, with little progress.

Genji thought about the Cultist, and instantly felt sick at the thought that even he could be bested and then used as a lab rat to understand how his powers worked.

It was a given that if challenged, the sentai would attempt to defeat and then terminate the Cultist, as he was too powerful to be allowed a second chance…

And yet.

The fact that the Cultist seemed to be intent in staying in Genji's city at least allowed him a little more leeway on the matter of dealing with him. Even if he started a war with whatever army he was collecting, it would be their duty to fight against him and make sure he could not do any more harm.

So if Genji chose to attempt a contact, it would be his responsibility and his alone to deal with the probable fallout.

It was not much of a consolation, in the face of the fame he'd made for himself, but it filled Genji with a sense of duty and determination, to think that this would be their enemy to best, and no one else's.

Sitting on the edge of a tall, abandoned skyscraper, Zenyatta observed the city below him.

With the sky bleeding orange and the sun about to set, he felt safe enough to come out of hiding, sure that he would not be bothered, the cool air of the late afternoon pleasant against his ever heated chassis.

He only had six of his mala on him and they circled around his neck slowly, while the rest was off, observing, gathering information which was sent to his processors to be analysed and compiled.

A year since the change had allowed Zenyatta to become accustomed to the rush of extra input data his orbs gave him, but at first it had been almost overwhelming to be connected with nine different cameras at the same time. His capacity was not that of a human so he had adapted, but that did not mean it had been easy.

At first, he had kept the orbs on himself all the time, only sending one out to serve as a scout whenever he moved, but soon he had realised the usefulness of having nine he could spread around to gather info, and had started to use them as much as he could to minimize having to leave the safety of his hiding spots.

They were quite useful, yet Zenyatta still would give that up, if only to see, once again, the familiar shape of his mala as they had once been.

He sighed deep in his synth, and straightened his back.

This city was beautiful from where he was sitting, and the sight allowed him some respite, helping to put his soul at ease.

Skyscrapers as far as he eye could see, with slowly moving flying machines into the distance, not too many to make the view unsightly, and down below, a sea of metal and green alike, in a beautiful, breath-taking mix.

This view, and so many more like this, was why Zenyatta had left the comfort of the Shambali monastery at the start of his journey, with the promise of so many things to learn and see with his own optical receptors rather than second hand through other people's tales.

After his change, though, he'd had limited options.

At first, he had only decided to stop in this place by chance; he had discussed for a long time with his brother where he should go, what he would have to do, and searching out in bigger cities where more monsters would come had seemed like the best idea.

They had no idea where to start, only that they _had_ to start somewhere.

Zenyatta had been infected by something, his entire structure changed from scratch, twisted and reworked in ways he had not expected could be possible prior to it happening to him. Nanomachines of this calibre, hi-tech and self-replicating, were something he'd never encountered before.

He had no idea why he had been targeted, or by who, or to what purpose.

It could have been personal or it could have been by chance, but the fact remained that Zenyatta had changed, and was different, and had to re-learn everything about himself in the span of a few weeks while being hunted down and assaulted.

For months, he had fought, ran and tried to seek information, at times even facing monsters and talking with them. Some had been more or less forthcoming, as they'd viewed him as one of them, not as an enemy, but none had answers, and most hadn't wanted to bother with him regardless.

Bigger cities had been a gamble, but one he had needed to take.

Some cities had heroes, others had none, and ultimately Zenyatta had wanted to stay in one that was unprotected, to avoid their attention, but in the end, he had settled for this city –in its beauty, it was one of the most plagued by monsters, and though it had enough heroes to ensure the citizen were protected, well…

Zenyatta had been fascinated by the sentai.

The tech they used held traces of something else, something Zenyatta could feel prickle under his fingertips, and through his senses if he reached out.

They had it buried within them, used it to fight the monsters but it was almost subdued, though the White sentai could reach out to it quite well, harnessing it and using it to both aid and heal her companions…

It was something old yet new, a mix of magic and technology, but there was also something else.

And then…

And then, Zenyatta had watched the Green sentai fight.

Almost reckless, at first he'd used his powers just as much as the others had –sparingly, only when he needed to deliver a final blow– except that…

There had been one fight that Zenyatta had witnessed from afar, when he had felt the rattling of the sentai's spirit vibrate through the space between them like a physical blow, and within its ripples, Zenyatta had felt a kinship, a feeling not unlike that of the Iris.

The sentai had harnessed the strength of a _dragon_ –a spirit that for most was a mythical best– entrenched in ethereal powers, powerful, and was using its aid in his battles.

Zenyatta had not recognized the feeling because he had kept himself separate from the sentai, not wishing to engage the heroes in a fight when they did not know who he was, nor would they understand, so he had missed the familiarity of such a creature… until then.

Even from such a distance, away from the fight, it was the first time in a year that Zenyatta had felt close to the Iris again.

Shut off from its touch, unable to reach out, no matter how much he tried, too far from Mondatta and unable to meet with him in order to keep the Shambali safe, Zenyatta had truly felt abandoned by the Iris, but here, in that moment, Zenyatta had felt an echo of it in the power within the Dragon, and his soul had been soothed, a feeling not unlike drinking something hot in a chilling day after going thirsty for too long.

Zenyatta had been unable to look away, mesmerized, as a part of his soul attempted to reach out, as if he could, by proxy, touch the Iris and be complete again… though it had not happened.

His longing had stalled him, made him forget everything in his need to feel, and then he had watched the battle unfold.

He had felt, through that distant brush, the sentai's determination, and the will to help, protect and challenge himself, the exhilaration of the battle, the connection he had with the dragon within him, the desire to be a change to the world with his own strength.

The battle had been difficult, with his three companions incapacitated, and the Green sentai had fought alone –the situation so dire Zenyatta had thought to join, if only for a moment.

He knew it would not work –he would reveal himself to them, and nothing would change, even if he aided the sentai to win, but…

Zenyatta had seen other heroes be defeated by monsters in the past. Some he had stepped in to help, only to be pushed away. Some he had been unable to save, getting there too late.

Here, and now, he had been ready to expose himself for he had the chance to help and Zenyatta would never hesitate–

And then the sentai had summoned his dragon.

Appearing in the air above him, drenching the sentai's body with its light, powerful and majestic, it had been like Green sentai had been born anew, though bleeding and battered, but not broken.

In such a battle, against all odds, the sentai had fought back with all he had, despite the dangers, despite the injuries, despite the fact that he could have died there, alone, protecting his teammates.

Green sentai had fought back and had won.

After that, Zenyatta chose to stay.

It was not a decision born simply due to his longing for the Iris, though. He did wish to feel its touch again –every day, always, the pain of its absence was like a wound– but the dragon's connection to the Iris was a mere echo. Its existence was linked closely to nature and its powers touched upon the Iris, but it was not, and never would be, the Iris itself.

Even if he happened to see Genji harness its powers again, it would do nothing to Zenyatta except make his core burn for something that was not his to take, not anymore.

No –he had decided to stay because for the long months he'd spent travelling ni his new form, Zenyatta had started to fear losing his grasp on what was left of the omnic he had once been.

Six months were a lot of time to spend on his own, with the only contact he had with someone else being the calls he had with his brother, who was too far to help, so far…

He had not wavered, but the despair of being truly alone, disconnected and changed, with no help in sight, had worn him down little by little, and even his soul had been afraid that with time, he would lose sight of himself.

It had not happened yet, but the fear had been there, and… in that desperate sentai fighting against all odds, Zenyatta had seen a flicker of light, and had felt a connection there.

Unknowingly, the sentai had offered Zenyatta something he'd needed without knowing it –a reminder that he could overcome his own battles, even those he felt were lost, if he kept on fighting.

The sentai, acclaimed hero who fought against monsters, protecting the city, had in that moment become Zenyatta's own hero.

And now, over six months later, Zenyatta had started to see this city, for how limited his view of it could be, a bit as his home.

Many things had changed since he had established himself here –he had met others who were like him, misshapen creatures twisted and turned into monsters seemingly without reason or cause, he had started protecting them, seeking them out, stopping the sentai from defeating them…

There was, in the end, another purpose for his presence here.

Maybe the Iris could not reach for him anymore like this, but it still had its ways to guide Zenyatta, after all.

The sentai were some of the ones who refused to kill monsters unless they hurt people, and instead used some sort of tech to cast the monsters away, but… if the choice for such creatures was either defeat and exile back to wherever they came from or death…

What did happen to monsters who were humans once, or those who had been omnics instead?

Were they truly sent to the monsters' realm, wherever that might be? Or was their last vestige of humanity what kept them from it, and sent them to their death instead?

Zenyatta had seen it, before he could stop it from happening, only once –and he still had no answer.

Yet it meant no one else knew, either.

Humans and omnics alike ran from monsters to protect themselves, and it made attempting to connect with them impossible. The aura that monsters had kept everyone else away, and those who had been turned were the same. Their own families refused to listen, so none of them had anywhere to go. Zenyatta sought out those he could find and sent them all to the Shambali, the only ones who were able to withstand the sudden, irrational fear through their meditation and by touching the Iris.

Since Zenyatta had realised he was not alone, he had vowed to himself not to let the sentai –or any hero– catch a transformed monster ever again.

It did not matter that the sentai had no way of knowing that some of the monsters they fought against were not really monsters at all, but in the end it was not important that they did not know, as Zenyatta could not reach out to them, even if he still tried.

Zenyatta knew. And since he did, it was his duty to make sure no hero could slay an innocent, even if they did not know.

It was a weight he would not allow the sentai to bear.

Zenyatta had decided to help those who could not be otherwise helped, even if that meant gaining the fame of a monster collector –of a Cultist, growing an army of acolytes to defeat humans and omnics alike.

It did not matter if none of the 'monsters' he collected were ever seen again afterwards, or if Zenyatta, hiding himself and using this fame to his own devices, had struck on other monsters as well to prevent them from attacking the sentai.

And if he could not do anything else, if he was destined to see his own fame as a monster grow, and others to only see him as something to be defeated… well then.

It would be alright.

The more attention he gathered, the more dangerous he grew to be, the more people would come to investigate. Maybe then, one of them would know something… anything… pertaining to what had happened to him and to so many others.

For this, Zenyatta would keep fighting, and would accept even the worst accusations, and the lies, and the fake proof that was so easy to gather up, when none of the heroes knew better.

Even if he had to do it on his own, Zenyatta would find a way to turn back to how he was, and with him, all the others.

It was all a matter of _when_.


	4. Chapter 03

Third chapter is out! If you are feeling antsy and want more, you can always look over at my ao3 (link in profile) as it has some more chapters there :D

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Chapter 03**

"I'm going out," Genji called above his shoulder, shuffling on his jacket as he moved to the entrance of their base.

"Where to?" Of the others casually hanging out in the sitting room, only Angela did look up at him, though she looked like she was barely aware he was there to begin with.

Hana was busy playing one of her videogames, fingers flicking expertly on the console handle, Lucio was tapping with one finger against the table, earphones on and a pile of papers in front of him, composing a new song, and Angela was idly flipping through the pages of her thick medical book, studying for her next exam.

"No more snacks," he answered, yawning and covering his mouth with the back of his hand. "If we're still up for that movie night, we need some good shit."

"Then don't forget to get soda!" Hana called out, her eyes never straying from the screen of her videogame, where she was soundly beating the shit out of some poor sod from across the continent. "Last time it barely lasted through half the movie!"

"Not my fault you and Angela started to challenge each other," he fired back. "Don't do it again and it will last till the end."

"Booooring! Where's the fun in that?"

Genji snickered to himself and left.

It was quite a nice day, and Genji felt the warmth of the sun on his skin as he walked out of their operation base and across the street; they were lucky that there was a 7/11 open on the same block, and the workers there were used to seeing him coming at any time of the day or of the night to buy food and snacks, and even kept some of his favourites for him –being a regular had all kinds of perks, after all.

When he got to the 7/11, though, he found a small crowd of people surrounding it, all mumbling and talking excitedly to one another, and Genji slowed down his pace, approaching them and straining his ears to listen for eventual dangers.

"What a horrible thing, really," one of the bystanders muttered, lips pulled down into a frown. The omnic standing next to him nodded slowly, the three-dot forehead array blinking a steady orange.

"Can't believe it happened to them, she seemed such a nice person…"

"Hey, did something happen?" Genji walked closer to them, standing on his toes to try and peek above the heads of the people in front of him. Since he was not exactly the tallest person around, it made it difficult, and they did not seem to want to move. "Why the crowd?"

"Oh, it's you, kid!" the man turned around, and Genji vaguely recognised him as another regular. "Do you remember one of the workers there, Stephanie?" at Genji's nod, the man continued "she disappeared with all their income from this past week. She left them in quite a pinch."

That surprised him. He knew Stephanie a bit, since he was a regular at the 7/11 and he liked to chat with people. At first he'd tried to flirt with her, but when she'd told him she was happily taken he'd backed off, though that had started a bit of cheerful back and forth between them. He… could not believe she would do something like that.

His emotions must have been obvious, because the man and the omnic shared a knowing look and nodded. "Yeah, it was a surprise for us as well. It happened during the shift change this early morning, when the owner comes by to collect the money and bring it to the bank. She was there waiting for him, stole the money and ran. The owner couldn't stop her."

Dismayed and baffled, Genji could only shake his head.

The people in front of him finally shifted enough that he could see what was going on. The 7/11 was closed down, but the owner was standing in front of the door talking to two policemen with one of his other employees, a tall guy with a scruffy beard and a slight slouch.

A part of Genji felt guilty –he was supposed to be the city's protector, and not just against monsters but also to help with robbers and thieves, and this 7/11 was so close to the base he should have realised…– but then he forcibly shook his head. He couldn't have known, nor could he have prevented it, if everything happened so quickly in the early morning.

Genji could not do everything, even if it made him feel angry at himself.

The employee took notice of him and his bright green hair and his lips quirked up in a small smile; with a polite nod to his boss and the policemen, he went around them and moved to join Genji.

"Oi, Genji, good to see you!"

"Same for me, Jesse!" Genji smiled, though his lips tilted down in a small grimace a second later. "I heard what happened. That must… suck."

"Yeah, there goes my weekly salary I guess," Jesse shrugged, a small roll of his shoulders, as if to downplay the situation. "She took all the cash and the envelops with our pay too."

Genji bit down on his lower lip. "If you need anything…"

"You're a darling, but I'll manage. I'm good at sorting my finances, and we're not closing down just because of that, so… I still have a job."

Genji sighed but nodded, knowing that Jesse would not allow him to help unless he was truly inconvenienced.

He and Jesse had not been friends for long –just a few months, ever since he'd started working at the 7/11, but he was a nice, easy going guy and Genji enjoyed hanging out with him. They even had the same taste in men, and that always helped.

"You're juggling two part-times, I don't know how you can do that," he murmured, still worried.

"You do what you gotta, Genji. So, if you were here to drop some good cash on us, fat chance. We're closed. But I can walk you to the rival 7/11 a block away if you want. Worked there for a few months before coming here."

"You've worked everywhere, Jesse."

"Not everywhere, yet. When I hit the big ones you'll be the first to know."

"I'll expect you to offer me a beer then."

Jesse smirked and punched him in the shoulder, and Genji smirked back.

Their trip to the other 7/11 only took them a little while, and as they walked back towards Genji's base –or as Jesse knew of it, Genji's apartment, which he shared with some housemates– they chatted idly, though it was obvious to Genji's keen eyes that despite his apparent ease, Jesse was still a little too stiff, his slouch even more pronounced than usual, so he tried his best to cheer his friend up.

That is, until he spotted something weird with the corner of an eye, and froze mid-step in the middle of the street, a small shiver running down his back.

"Oi, Genji, what's wrong? You look pale."

Genji blinked, and focused once again on Jesse, but it took him a couple seconds to come up with an answer. "I… I remembered I had to do something important and I totally forgot and Hana will skin me alive if I don't… get her soda!" the realisation hit him, as he had honestly forgotten about it until that instant, but it was also a convenient excuse. "You still up for a gaming night later this week?"

"Uh? Sure thing. Have nothing else to do until my second shift so I'll just head home. I'll text you at some point later today. Better not get that lady angry with you, I hear she can bite really hard."

Unable to restrain a wince at that, Genji nodded. He did not really waste time checking if Jesse was going, turning around and dashing down the street, apparently heading back to the 7/11 only to take a sharp turn once he was past a corner, slipping into one of the side streets and hiding behind a trash can, out of sight.

He glanced around, and once he was sure nobody was there, he called forth his morphing powers and switched to his sentai suit.

"Yosh," he murmured to himself, feeling a shiver of anticipation run down his back.

If what he'd seen was real, he could not approach it as Genji, and of course, he could not do it when in Jesse's company either, but now he was alone and did not need to worry.

The street was still empty, thankfully, and there was no sign of Jesse anywhere, which was a relief. Genji hesitated only for a split second before he moved to the side of the street, easily vaulting over a tall fence and into the garden of someone's house.

To his excitement –and a little bit of wariness too– what he'd seen earlier was still there, comfortably wrapped into the paws of a slobbery, snoozing dog.

One of the Cultist's creepy orbs.

He had no idea how it had been caught like that –the dog was sleeping, one floppy cheek pressed against the round surface, and appeared undisturbed by the deep, unsettling aura of the orb, which was blinking slowly at the sky, not moving much– but it was nothing short of a small miracle for Genji.

Winston had wanted to get his hands on one of the orbs for months, ever since seeing what they could do, but the Cultist was jealous of them, and though he seemed to never part from them, Genji had enough suspicions that he used them for intel, and to find one like this…

Definitely lucky –or it would be if he could catch it.

The orb was probably sending information back to the Cultist, and if he caught it, then the monster would know. If he could track the orb back and Genji brought it with him to his base, then he would give its location away… unless their masking protections worked better than Genji knew. He was not sure. Still, even giving away the general area of their base would be bad so… how could Genji prevent that?

Genji looked down at his hands. He had the bag of snacks, maybe he could use it, and…

That would work, yes. At least for now.

He inched forwards slowly, tiny shuffles so not to alert the dog, who kept on sleeping without taking notice of him, and moved closer and closer, slowly, biting his lip under his mask, tense, getting ready…

The orb's eye flickered his way, but it was too late –Genji struck, his hand a blur as he grabbed the orb and trapped it inside the bag with his snacks, tying the opening quickly and then pressing it hard against his stomach, his heart thundering in his chest.

"I… I did it! I caught it!" incredulous yet triumphant, Genji allowed himself a moment of utter joy, jumping from one foot to the other as a nervous laugh left his lips.

The noise was enough that the dog did wake up then, and upon seeing a weird masked individual bouncing at his side, he did what any other disgruntled dog would have done. He barked loudly, growling at Genji, and he stopped bouncing immediately to step back from the dog.

"Easy, easy there pup! I'm the good guy! I saved you from the evil orb!"

It seemed like the dog did not agree. He kept growling at him, lowering his front and shuffling around, tail held high and stiff.

Genji thought it would be best to back away slowly, and when he was far enough from the growling dog, he jumped out of the small garden and high-tailed away, still giddy about what he'd just managed to do.

Instead of running on the street, and risk being recognised by people as a sentai, Genji jumped up a wall and ended up on top of a tall building, sitting on the edge and clutching the bag to his chest.

He had no idea what to do, but he did not want to risk opening the bag to look at the orb, just in case it ended up recording something that could give him away to the Cultist.

For a moment, Genji entertained the thought to keep the orb to himself –maybe let it go and follow it back to its owner, and then confront the Cultist alone, challenge him maybe, fight him… but then he shook his head, not wishing to go down that road.

He knew what happened when he faced things on his own, and he knew how much pain it caused to his friends. He had learned his lesson.

Still, he had no idea how to proceed.

He shuffled with the bag for a few seconds, and wondered if he should peek inside at the orb, and after another long moment of hesitation, his curiosity peaked enough that he unwrapped the edge of the bag from his hand, and opened it, just a fraction.

The orb inside did not move. It felt like a dead weight but Genji was not fooled, so he kept a tight hold of it through the bag and then managed to get a good view of it.

It was the first time he'd seen one this close, and it was just as creepy as it seemed from afar –only perhaps… worse.

The eyes on its surface were… not quite gelatinous, they did not truly appear to be 'real' eyes, and for a moment, Genji felt a wave of relief. That also seemed to dispel the notion that the orbs were part of the Cultist's body, only separated by some sort of monster magic.

If they were not magic, though, what were they?

There was a flimsy layer of something thin covering the eyes, and Genji squinted through his mask, only to realise it was probably something like a polymer, a mix of plastic and glass perhaps, or something different but…

Mechanic.

The orbs were mechanic.

Yet, the eyes looked incredibly realistic, and when one of them focused on him, pupil constricting, Genji had to restrain a shiver, instead attempting to look defiant and aggressive, though he knew it would not convey much through his mask.

He was confident that he could move quickly before the Cultist could follow him, and besides, he was someplace high, so the eye could only see a small piece of a building and the sky, other than his mask.

It would be fine.

Hopefully.

Genji focused his attention on the orb again, daring to meet the focused stare of the eye head on. If this was mechanic, it did not make any sense; monsters never had anything on them that looked like a machine –no guns, no lasers, no complex weaponry. They were usually attacking people or places with parts of their bodies, like claws or teeth, or at most, a modified rudimental weapon like a blade or a scythe.

This… this was different. This was mechanical, and exceedingly advanced.

As Genji observed the eye flicker from one side to the other, one edge of the orb flickered and frizzled, and he scrambled to cover it with the bag again, afraid it would disintegrate in his hands, only to see…

The orb was moving slightly. Or well… its surface was. Shifting and shuffling like water, or like sand, or maybe even like sand covered with tiny ants.

At once, his eyes widened in shock, recognizing what he was seeing. These were nanomachines.

But… how?

Hastily shoving the orb back into the depths of his bag, Genji closed it as tightly as possible and held onto it with both hands.

Impossible.

If a monster had this much technology… how?

The Cultist had appeared already holding the orbs with him, and had used them as if he was familiar with them, so he'd probably acquired them somewhere in the past, but… from who? Who could have allowed a monster to have nanomachines?

A small sound broke Genji from his reverie.

"Genji? Where are you man? You left for the store _ages_ ago!"

Startled, he almost dropped the bag. "Lucio! I have news!"

Zenyatta felt the ripples coming from one of his missing orbs and paused mid-step.

He had been walking quietly through the sewers, in one of the abandoned parts of the city undergrounds, when it happened.

There were parts of the city that had been partially or almost fully destroyed or damaged by the first monsters attacking, years in the past, unstable after far too many attacks, and Zenyatta had sought them out, too dangerous for people to live as nobody dared to come around, so he could use them as a temporary shelter.

It was not ideal, but it was safe.

He kept each and every one of his orbs monitored, receiving every few minutes a constant update on what they saw, but that one orb had ended up caught by a playful dog, and Zenyatta, not wishing to disturb it as it slept after playing and chewing on the newfound toy, had allowed it to keep the mala.

Yet, that proved to be a mistake.

Not too long after he had received the last stream of images of a dog's nose in close quarters, the orb had started sending weird images of food and fabric and plastic, and it had taken Zenyatta no time to realise that someone had caught his orb and placed it in… a bag with food, apparently.

Mostly snacks, but they looked like an interesting collection.

That did not fix his problem, though. His orb had been caught by someone, and this… did not bode well for him.

He only had three on himself, the other six in various areas of the city, monitoring everything from safe spots, but even one less orb proved to be difficult to fix, and he could not just go outside and retrieve it on his own.

Still busy considering his options, Zenyatta assumed his usual meditative pose, index and thumb pressed together, the remaining orbs slowly circling his neck with a soft hum; if anything, at least their sound had not changed, and he could still allow his mind to ease through meditation.

Hit attempt to calm himself was, unfortunately, short-lived.

Something was walking through the empty tunnels ahead of him, and in the silence, their footsteps were as loud as a stampede.

Zenyatta tensed, and sent one of his orbs ahead.

The dark did not bother his optical receptors, nor the eyes on his mala, but he had not expected what the orb reported to him seconds later, the image clear through his sensors.

A human.

It was a short, buff human woman, wringing her hands together and looking apprehensively around, and then, trailing behind her, so quiet it could almost go unnoticed, was a monster.

Suddenly apprehensive, Zenyatta took three steps before more images filtered through his processors, making the picture clearer for him as his senses were assaulted with discord and pain and anxiety, all coming not just from the human ahead, but also the monster.

It was clear, then, what he was seeing –but not why.

Slowly, with measured footsteps, Zenyatta advanced towards the human and the monster following her.

The monster was the first to see him coming –as it seemed obvious, considering the tunnels were not lit, and the human only had the light from her phone to let her see where she was going– and it hissed something at the woman, who instantly froze.

Her hands clenched together, her breathing harsh, the woman remained completely still, eyes wide in fear, and the monster slithered forwards, grotesque and mismatched, one half of the body with paws and short, cropped fur, and the other a hardened bug shell.

"Don't touch her," the monster hissed, and the voice sounded almost girlish, though it had a strong echo to it.

"I do not plan to," he answered just as quietly.

There was a long, tense silence.

"What are you doing here, in my domain?" deciding to play it safe, Zenyatta allowed his orbs to shine an otherworldly green, illuminating the walls and the metal and the stone surrounding them with a sickly glow. "This is not your place."

"I–" the woman squeaked, and Zenyatta watched with a flicker of sadness as she punctured the back of her hand with her nails in a fierce attempt not to tremble. "I'm here to propose an ex-exchange!"

Zenyatta did not speak further, allowing the woman some time to calm down and explain, but he was curious, and rather perplexed, and he hoped, against all hope, that the woman did not mean for him to harm someone else, though… the monster behind her spoke of an entirely different story.

"I have… I have money! A lot of it!" she scrambled to grab a small bag attached to her hips, and with trembling hands, she extracted a few envelopes full of money, which Zenyatta observed with shock, though none of it reflected anywhere in his appearance. "I… I don't know if you need it, or… I'll buy anything you want! Anything! But I… I want…"

Her voice seemed to falter, and then the monster advanced towards him. They passed the woman, who seemed to flinch, minutely, before steeling herself, but the monster did not appear to notice –or if they did, they did not show it– and stepped in front of the woman, between her and Zenyatta.

A protective stance, as far as Zenyatta was aware.

"She wants to ask you to lead us out of the city from down here," the monster hissed, raw and just as unsure as human behind them was. "We'll get you anything. I don't care. I just–" they turned around, enough to look at the woman, before twisting their neck to glance again at Zenyatta. "Away from here. Somewhere safe."

"How did you know where to find me… if it was me, specifically, that you were seeking?" instead of addressing their request, Zenyatta, asked his most pressing question instead.

"I…" the monster fought with themselves for a second, gritting their teeth, gnawing at the lower lip –a mix of reptile scales and fur, fangs of different sizes– before shaking their head. "No matter! We know! We found you! We won't tell anyone, but we need to leave! If you don't… if you don't want to help, we'll…" they paused, suddenly aware that their tone sounded more like a threat now, but empty, too empty of any sort of leverage, and then their eyes flickered with an idea. "We'll find the sentai and tell them!"

Zenyatta hummed, softly.

In the back of his mind, he received a quick image of Green Sentai's mask peeking from the edges of a bag that contained his missing orb, and he filed the information away, though he could only see little fragments of the city, not enough to deduce where he was.

Unfortunate.

"So you came here, knowing where to find me, attempting to pay for… a service… from me." he paused, the tentacles on his face wriggling slowly. "With no plan B. Alone. A human and a monster, together. And then you threaten me, and do not think I could just end you there, without allowing you out from here, and no one… no one would be any wiser."

He saw both stiffen, and the monster's fur rose to its end, a hissing sound coming from their throat. The woman, frightened, her breathing quick and uneven, took a trembling step back.

"Yet you are at your wits' end," he continued, his tone soft, quiet. "With no other option, scared, and… with money that does not belong to you, either."

"What do… what do you even care?!"

Zenyatta's shoulders relaxed, minutely. "I do, because if you had not found me –if you had been seeking truly the monster this city calls the Cultist, he would have destroyed you." They both flinched, too scared, too frozen to even move. He continued, "But there will be no need of money for something I can easily grant."

He knew he'd shocked both of them, because the monster's fur flattened instantly.

"I… wha– you… you accept?!" the woman looked so surprised, though he could feel from her waves of hope flickering towards him, almost intoxicating after all that Discord. "Without… both of us! I won't let her become one of your minions!"

"I have no minions." He allowed a small flicker of amusement to colour his tone, his tentacles writhing a little faster to show his mirth. "I assure you, that is merely bad press."

He advanced towards them, and the monster was instantly on defense again, hissing loudly enough for the sound to echo around them, but all Zenyatta did was stop in front of her. "Where do you intend to go, once away from this city? There are just as many dangers out there as you could find here. Nothing is any better anywhere."

"Yes, it is! Here they think… and then I just…" wringing her hands together, the woman took a step backwards, then forwards, forcing herself to fight the fear. "Anywhere! Somewhere nobody will give a fuck about a human and a monster travelling together!"

"You stand here, so afraid, so scared, and yet you still refuse to back down." Zenyatta, mournful, turned to the monster. "It is admirable she is still standing here. We unfortunately have something that both humans and omnics find undesirable to face, and as such, it is their nature to run and hide, rather than stay and listen. Very few can withstand the onslaught of such aura we have, and yet… your friend is here with you, to support you. She has…" one of his orbs blinked, focusing on the envelopes full of money, "… stolen to pay another monster, because humans would never agree… so that you both could run. Yet, away from here nothing will change. You will find opposition anywhere you choose to go, and you would end up hiding, homeless and alone."

The monster was staring at him, both eyes narrowed in speculation, both sides of her face showing the same emotion –a calculating look that she was focusing on him. Zenyatta waited.

"You are nothing like what I expected," she finally murmured. "You know lots of things and you're smart and you say the truth, but here… I'm…"

"You changed, and you are afraid… but she's still at your side." Zenyatta watched the two and felt their shock wash all over him again, and allowed himself a soft pleased sigh. "You are lucky."

"How… how did…" the woman appeared conflicted, wanting to run to the monster yet at the same time back away, but it was the monster who reached the correct conclusion first.

"You're… you're like _me_!" all at once, her wariness melted away, the confusion turning into a sharper focus. "I can't… you're not a real monster?! There's more like me?!"

With a soft chuckle, Zenyatta nodded, and stepped back. He chose to address her, to allow the woman some respite, though he knew his appearance was still creepy enough that she would never truly relax, not until he was gone. "Indeed. Though not quite like you. I was an omnic before, while you were a human."

The monster's shoulders trembled, relief and shock and sadness making her shake, and she covered her mouth with her scaly hand, breathing hard into it. Zenyatta allowed her a few seconds to calm down, all the while monitoring the situation of his missing orb.

He could easily recall it, make it come back by slipping through Green sentai's lack grip, but… he did not wish to.

Zenyatta could not feel the dragon's presence through the orb with just this touch, but he wondered, not for the first time, if allowing the sentai to have a mala could perhaps aid them in finding the true extent of his curse.

Of course, if he'd offered them one they would have refused, thought it a trap, but like this, maybe…

Zenyatta had thought about giving up his idea to get the sentai to help, at least the way he had been doing until then. Green Sentai had almost looked like he considered listening, but in the end, he had not –and his companions had pushed him into refusing.

There was nothing there for Zenyatta to further pursue, so it would be better to give that up, but this…

This was a different angle he could try.

"My… my name is Alexandra. And… she's Stephanie," the monster's voice snapped Zenyatta's focus back on the task at hand. "She's my… she's my girlfriend. We were meant to get married next June, you know."

Zenyatta felt a wave of grief fill him at the thought of how that might have felt –watch her future ripped away from her hands by a curse befalling her.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, and his voice conveyed all his grief, so honestly that even Stephanie, wrapped in shock and still away from them, was startled by it, her shoulders tensing. "It must have been recent, is that right?"

"Y… yes. It happened last week. I… I was tending to my plants at home and then… and then it happened and I was so scared, and I knew nobody would want to talk to me, and I wanted to run but then… Stephanie found me, and even though she was afraid she… she recognised my voice, and remained, and we talked a lot, and we had no other choice–" now that she felt a connection, her voice came out louder, in a sudden rush to get all her story out. "She stole money from where she works. We watched the news, but did not know where to go or how to run, and my family kept calling and they were planning on visiting and… we panicked."

Alexandra's shoulders shook, and then much to Zenyatta's surprise, Stephanie stepped forwards, hands trembling, and pressed one hand, very gently, on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Alexandra is really smart," her voice shook, but she kept her eyes trained on Zenyatta as she spoke, as if to challenge him. "She figured out we needed a plan. She thought… you had your underlings, and on the news most of your sightings were on this part of the city, and she… she used to work for the metro line, a few years ago. So she figured you were hiding down here. I thought… if we could offer you something, maybe…" she trailed off. "We had no other option, and if people found out about Alexandra, they would… I couldn't! I couldn't let them!"

Zenyatta knew he could not reach out to her as he would in the past, and instead remained motionless, head tilted down in respect for her pain, and watched as her girlfriend turned around and hesitantly wrapped her arms around her.

Stephanie stiffened, but then relaxed in the hug, and the two held each other quietly, trembling but not crying.

"I will help you get out from here." He promised, and the two turned to look at him, faces so different yet both betraying hope, and relief. "But I will offer something more. Once away from here, seek the Shambali. They are aware of my… circumstances. They will not turn you away."

"The Shambali?" they looked at one another, tentative in their hope. "What can they do?"

"Offer you shelter where others will reject you. Unfortunately, there is no known cure yet, but at least there no one will chase or attempt to separate you. Also the Shambali can actively fight the aura we emit, and they can help you strengthen your will against it," he turned to look at Stephanie. "You have an admirable resistance to it already, it will not take long."

As if something had been switched inside her, Stephanie's expression turned immediately determined. "Then, we will go. Thank you."

Zenyatta smiled, his forehead array burning a bright green. "Well then. One last thing…"

Genji idly played with the orb in his hand, watching the eye blink and stare at him, then look away.

He was bored.

The novelty of the plaything he'd caught had quickly faded, especially after contacting the others.

Winston had been delighted to know they were now in possess of one of the Cultist's evil orbs, and though he'd admonished Genji for acting on his own, he was excited and proud to hear he had not handled the orb without his suit gloves or mask.

It would keep his identity safe, and make sure the orb could not do something evil to him if he were to touch it with his bare hands.

Unfortunately, Winston had not known where they could safely take the orb, as he'd been caught unprepared, and had asked Genji to keep on the rooftops and away from people, and if the Cultist arrived before Winston called again, Genji was not to engage and instead run.

Lucio and Hana had at first proposed to meet up with Genji, so there could be three of them in case the monster appeared, but Genji had refused, saying it would be more conspicuous for three sentai to be together bouncing around on the rooftops rather than just one, and he was the silent one.

Hana was… not quite used to stealth, especially not jumping over buildings as she did not have Genji's training, and while Lucio could match Genji's speed with his rollers and had quite a good grasp of jumping around, he was not exactly quiet either.

So, he promised to keep quiet and move around, and Winston promised to be quick and prepare a way to store the orb so no one could track it down.

"It appears you have something that belongs to me, Green sentai."

The soft voice startled Genji enough that he almost dropped the orb below, but at the last second he clenched down his fingers on it and scrambled to stand up.

He had been idly pacing over the edge of an abandoned building, and had been deep in thought so he had failed to hear someone approaching until it was too late.

Genji turned around, tense and on guard, and found the Cultist standing there, a few feet away, with his orbs –or at least, eight of them– circling lazily around him.

"Well, seems like you misplaced it, so now it's not yours anymore, creep," he called out, attempting to sound less wary than he felt.

"Hmmm. Is that so? Yet, last I knew, I had decided to let a dog have it, not a sentai."

Genji scoffed, though as usual, the Cultist's behaviour unsettled him.

With his amused voice and his casual attitude, he was a far cry from the usual monsters the sentai fought. He truly was on an entirely different level.

"Well then… what about a fair exchange, sentai? You let me have my orb back, and you can have this."

Genji fought the urge to leap away when the Cultist smoothly slid one hand under his cloak, expecting who knew what sort of weapon, only to see him extract what looked like a pile of envelopes from some inner pocket.

Genji frowned, fighting the urge to crane his neck to look at them. "What's that? Why would I exchange this for…" something caught his attention and his eyes widened underneath his mask. "Is that… money?"

The Cultist's shoulders shook slightly, and Genji realised, startled, that he was laughing quietly, and stifled an offended grunt.

"I thought humans enjoyed exchanges that included their currency," the Cultist said, voice a smooth timber that made Genji shiver. "Is that not the case?"

He had no idea why, but he had the feeling the Cultist was mocking him, yet he could not understand why, or how.

"Not when monsters like you are bundled up with it," he growled, and in the back of his head, his dragon surged forwards, just enough to be a comforting presence, enough so that the monster could also feel it, and be cowed.

He saw the Cultist stiffen in front of him, and he felt a small flicker of pride at the thought that maybe he'd scared him.

"Where did you get that?"

The Cultist brushed one finger over the envelopes he was holding. Casual, just as calm and unruffled as ever. "A woman happened upon me, afraid, so much afraid."

Genji felt anger coil inside his belly, and focused on it instead of his fear –being angry was much better, and had better results than cowering. "What did you do to her?!"

The Cultist at first did not answer. He looked at Genii, right through him, with his glowing eyes. Genji stiffened. "She will not be seen around here anymore, that much is certain."

Dismay and an even stronger anger rose inside Genji like burning fire, enough that he was left breathless, fury almost consuming his thoughts.

Any thought that the Cultist was somehow playing around, that there was maybe something else at play, completely vanished from his mind, replaced by disgust with himself at having allowed a monster to fool him this way.

This creature had killed… he had…

The fury paralyzed him, and when the Cultist flung the envelopes at him, Genji almost did not move, though his hand darted out on instinct to grab the pile of envelopes, nearly tied together by a red string, before they could topple over and flutter down on the city streets.

"Wh–"

"I have no need for this. You can have that. As for my mala…" the Cultist paused, pressing his fingers together in front of his face in a pose evocative of a meditating stance, "I will have it back, eventually. Everything is as it should be."

He disappeared before Genji could react, quickly, smoothly, leaving behind Genji with his fury coiling inside him, yet nothing he could do about it, seething, furious.

It would take him a long time before he noticed the printed name on each envelope that stated they belonged to the 7/11 a block away from his base, and before he realised exactly who the woman the Cultist had been talking about was.


	5. Chapter 04

Have the fourth instalment for this fic :)

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Chapter 04**

As he walked to the 7/11, Genji's mood was at an historical low.

He'd spent the night rolling around in his bed, unable to get any decent sleep, and if not for the fact that he'd agreed to meet with Jesse, he would not have left the base at all –let alone his bedroom.

The previous day and the conversation with the Cultist was the only thing he could focus on, and he could not understand why he felt so upset about that monster, only that he _was_.

It also left him with a bitter taste in his mouth, and the nagging feeling that he had no idea how to address the situation. Jesse had known Stephanie longer than he had, and though professional, they had been more friendly with one another than Genji had been with her, so he somehow felt Jesse had the right to know what had happened to her, and yet…

He could not tell him.

Genji had not met with the Cultist – _Green sentai_ had. So Genji was not supposed to know that Stephanie was gone for good, that the Cultist had… that he had…

No, he was not supposed to know, but he _was_ the only one who knew. The sting of this truth was perhaps what bothered him the most.

It hurt.

A part of Genji wondered if it hurt because of all the people Genji heard had been targeted by the Cultist, none of them he had known personally, or had ever seen before. They were numbers, a toll that Genji considered yet could not truly grasp… but he had _known_ Stephanie.

Was this bad, then –that it was only now he felt the cold truth of the Cultist's nature clashing with whatever feeling Genji had about him? He had no idea.

Genji barely remembered getting back to the base, though he had; he also remembered Winston sending Lucio with a proper protection to put the orb into, and he remembered giving it away as quickly as he could without arousing suspicions, wanting to get rid of it. He had not wanted to look at it anymore, disgusted and angry, the idea of having on him something that belonged to the Cultist making his stomach twist.

Afterwards, he had avoided Angela's eyes. She would understand something had happened if he did, and he did not want to address it, the anger too strong, the frustration too complete for him to be able to look at it rationally.

He did not want to admit she had been right about the Cultist.

Genji did not know why the truth stung so much… he was just a stupid idealist, after all.

Jesse was waiting for him in front of the 7/11. His shift had just ended, and they had plans to grab something to eat, and he looked… happy. Carefree, smiling.

He had no idea that his co-worker was dead, murdered in cold blood by an irredeemable monster.

"'lo, Genji! You look like someone kicked your dog! Well, if you had one."

He waggled his eyebrows, expecting Genji to make one of his usual quips. Genji wasn't really in the mood for that, so instead he just lifted one hand in greeting and slumped against the wall, feeling exhausted and the day had just started.

Maybe he should have tried to train a bit instead, working this helplessness by fighting against some training bot might have helped with his mood…

"Man, sure looks like you're having a shit day." Jesse wrapped one arm around Genji's shoulder, tugging him away from the wall and down the street. "Here, let me offer you a drink buddy. It's on me! And you know why? Hmm?" though Genji did not even look at him, Jesse continued talking as if nothing was wrong, his grip on Genji's shoulder steely. "I got paid! Boss said the sentai popped around with our money! Looks like everything's fixed!"

Genji knew he should at least make an attempt to look happy for his friend –he knew Jesse worked hard and was trying to cheer him up, but…

He just couldn't.

He'd known Stephanie. She had been such a happy, cheerful person, always chatting up with Genji, poking fun at him being single when she was happy with her girlfriend, putting aside things she knew he loved so he could buy them next time he popped around the 7/11…

And now she was… gone. Dead.

Her being a thief would have been better than her being…

Jesse looked at his face, unsure what was wrong but unwilling to let his friend linger in such a mood.

"Y'know, I shouldn't tell you this, but…" Jesse tugged him closer and slouched some more to whisper in Genji' s ear, sounding like he was going to share some secret. Usually, he would bat at Jesse's face and joke about his beard tickling him, but this time, he simply sighed, and waited for Jesse to continue. "I got a call this morning, right before work."

"Ah? Did they call you back from Starbucks?"

Jesse grunted. "No, not yet, but if they do I'm dropping my other job right away, I tell you. No, but… listen, you can keep a secret right?"

Genji straightened his back and peered at Jesse's face, reflecting his serious tone with his own deadpan look. "You could ask no better person, Jesse," and offered him the smallest smile.

"Good, 'cause it's one hell of a secret and you got to keep it, alright? I'm trusting you with this Genji."

He pushed Jesse's head on the side, amused at his friends antics and aware he was most likely doing this to cheer him up. "Yeah, yeah, tell me, don't keep me hanging then!"

"Well then… Stephanie called me."

It took a few seconds for Genji to process Jesse's words, and when they did, he stopped dead, and Jesse almost stumbled forwards, catching himself just in time.

"I… wh… what?"

"Listen, I know–" Jesse misinterpreted Genji's choked voice and hurried to explain. "She stole from the shop and ran away, and called me before I found out we got our money back but…" Jesse scratched the back of his head, sounding almost sheepish. "She said she was sorry. Said she had some trouble with her finances and her girlfriend and they were runnin' away, but that she felt rotten for doin' that to us. Said things would sort out. I thought it meant she wanted to pay us back at some point, then I got to work and the money was there, so…" Jesse shrugged. "Y'know, she was wrong, but… things can go shitty for everyone, 'n I'm not one to hold a grudge. We've all been in… bad situations before. Sometimes all you need is a good word from someone, doesn't matter who."

Genji might have noticed the tone in his voice, and the faraway look he got in his eyes, but he was far too preoccupied with wrapping his mind around what Jesse had said to notice much else.

"I shouldn't have told you, she's gone and isn't coming back, but I thought maybe you've been worried, and angry. She was sort of your friend too."

Jesse was still smiling, but he must have noticed something in Genji's expression, because he paused. "Really, Genji, what the hell's wrong with you? I'm starting to get worried."

Swallowing hard, Genji looked into Jesse's face. Searching for something, anything, that would let him know if Jesse was lying. He did not look like it. "When… when did you say she called you?"

"This morning, couple hours before I started work."

"But that's–" Genji stopped, biting on his tongue enough to hurt.

He thought back, thoughts scrambled and hard to catch, and tried to remember –what did the Cultist say?

He'd said he'd killed her, he'd said…

Why did he _lie_?

" _She will not be seen around here anymore, that much is certain."_

He had… he'd not said he'd killed her.

He'd sounded… certain, and Genji had assumed… but no, the Cultist had been playing jokes with him, but… why? He had committed so many crimes before, Genji shouldn't have expected any less from him, so then… why not kill a lone human who had happened upon him, instead of letting her go to pick up the money she'd dropped?

How was Stephanie alive, and if she'd truly seen that creature, then… how could she sound so normal, and regretful, enough to call Jesse the next day, believing everything would be alright?

The same feeling as before, the one that had been pushed down by his anger, resurfaced like a punch in the guts, and Genji tried to wrap his mind around the Cultist's mind tricks.

Surely he couldn't have known the human he'd let go –and why did he do that?– would have called back, nor that the sentai he'd met was Genji, or that he would, in such a roundabout way, find out that she was alive.

He'd made it sound like he had killed her, and had no problem making a sentai believe it, as well.

Genji couldn't even begin to unravel what that meant, no matter how much he tried to think about it.

All he understood was that the Cultist had twisted a truth in such a way that his fame as a cruel monster only grew. If he'd done it on purpose, just to make the sentai afraid, then it could… almost make sense, except then he would have killed Stephanie anyway.

Monsters had no remorse.

This made no sense.

Inside him, his dragon brushed against his consciousness, as if it wanted to say something –yet, Genji could not understand what.

Then the dragon was gone, and Genji shook his head.

"Thank you Jesse, for telling me. I… I'm glad she called you."

"So it was Genji who found it. Hasn't said much about it, though –perhaps the orb still had some remnants of the owner's powers lingering around it, though by the time he got it to me, there was none left."

Winston looked up from the paper he was holding and to the reinforced glass cover that surrounded the orb Genji had brought back.

It was hovering inside the dome, blinking, but the eye was fixated on an empty spot, unable to see anything with the amount of masking Winston had prepared to store the orb safely, just in case the Cultist tried something despite the distance between him and his weapon.

It had taken Winston a few hours to prepare the cage, putting all his knowledge to work, and it showed.

The dome was almost invulnerable –it would withstand incredible force applied to it, special attacks on par with Hana's Mecha assault mech, or even the strength of Genji's dragon. Nothing could pass through the glass, so even the nanomachines would be unable to slip through and get free. It was impenetrable unless he removed the two small sensors at the base that kept the energy running over the entire surface, and even those could only be disabled using specific codes only Winston had –or Athena.

The Cultist would not be able to get the orb back, not without knowing all that, and also the location of their base –and if he knew that, it would not matter that the orb was safe as none of them would be anymore.

Winston was proud, with how little time he'd been given to come up with enough protections to safely meet up with Genji to get the orb.

"Fascinating… and you say it is composed by… nanomachines?" the holographic screen in front of him returned the image of a middle aged, distinct-looking woman in a white lab coat, a pair of heterochromatic eyes over a sharp nose and thin lips pursed in a small frown.

Winston hummed, glancing up before looking back down at the orb. "Ah, yes. Genji said the orb is either covered with them or made entirely by them. Its structure appears to be… not quite stable, but not as volatile as I'd expect. The nanites seem to be rather… hi-tech, actually."

"Hmmm. Is that so? I would truly like to… run my own experiments on it, as soon as possible."

Winston did look up then, straightening his back –as much as he could– before tapping a finger on his own glasses. "Ah, yes. Of course. But it might be a while, still. I have only ran a couple preliminary tests, and I do not trust moving this weapon yet, not with the threat of the Cultist following it. Surely you understand, Moira."

Her expression turned sharply from the slowly floating orb to him, and the look was almost enough to make him flinch, though he resisted the impulse. Then, she sighed, and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her lithe fingers.

"Of course, I understand. Precaution comes first. Yet, this orb… intrigues me, and I wish to unravel what secrets it holds."

"Yes, I know you have written a few essays on the topic of… nanites, in the past." Winston wrinkled his nose, and checked the graphs on the computer screen on the side, the ones that monitored the orb. "Nonetheless, the dangers of, uh, moving the orb right now outweigh everything else. We have no idea if it's dangerous by itself or if the Cultist will be able to activate it from afar, even with my protections. I will make sure to run all the needed tests before sending it over to you. It might answer our questions without disassembling it, and we might not know how to put it back together –or if it would allow us to. Nanites can be… volatile."

"You do not need to tell me that, Winston," Moira's voice sounded almost scathing before her lips smoothed out of her frown. "If nothing else, I have quite a bit of interest in its owner as well. The creature you call the Cultist." There was a weird glint in her eyes, and Winston did not envy that monster –if someone like Moira decided to get interested, it would be difficult even for such a creature to come out of it unscathed. "It has been left unsupervised far too long, if you say he has been collecting… a following." She glanced away from the orb to fix Winston with a glare. "There have been a few cases around the world with creatures attempting to create… alliances, so to speak, but we have dashed their hopes before they could grow to be too dangerous. It surprises me you have allowed this one to fester for so long."

Winston sighed, feeling the brunt of her dissatisfaction like the feeling of ants crawling over his fur.

"It has been rather busy these past few months, and the Cultist is… quite evasive. We have been monitoring the situation, and as long as it lays low, it is not so easy to pinpoint where he must be hiding."

"Ridiculous." Moira made a sharp gesture with her wrist, dismissive. "If he has been gathering an army, they have to be _somewhere_. The city might be big, but not big enough to hide an entire coalition of monsters. He must be truly… powerful… to keep them all in line, enough that not a single one of them has been seen since he whisked them away."

Startled by her words, Winston glanced away from his graphs to stare at her, then down at the orb, then back at her. "That is correct. My calculations that he has set up a secret place in the outskirts might not be too far off from the, uh, actual answer. We have no way of knowing."

"What are your sentai even doing, when they aren't chasing monsters down? Sitting there, twiddling their fingers? What a waste. There are far more creatures appearing nowadays than there were last year. They are coming from somewhere, and your attempts to… send them back… aren't truly fixing the problem at its roots. We must find better ways to deal with them."

It took Winston a certain degree of self-control not to answer the obvious provocation. It was a point of contention between them, as it had always been, that she treated the heroes employed under her control as paws, rather than agents, people to trust –friends. Moira squeezed their usefulness until they could no longer be used, but unfortunately for him, her methods were giving more results overall… which was why she was in control of a bigger division.

With a grunt, Moira looked back at the orb. "If your monster has been setting up a cult to his name, and has been hiding those creatures somewhere, maybe… his true powers are not just for fighting. Maybe they deal with a connection between this world… and theirs. We must study his weapons, and then we must find a way to catch him."

Winston's hands fumbled with the stack of paper he was holding, almost making it fall, a few sheets slipping from his grip to flutter to the floor.

"I… I had not thought about that at all, but it could explain why there have been no sightings of monsters we've encountered that he stole from us. If so…" he glanced down at the orb, narrowing his eyes. "It might be imperative to focus on understanding what kind of powers this orb has, if there is a connection to its owner, and if the negative emotions it causes are somehow linked to something greater."

"Yes, study it –but if nothing comes from your analysis, then you must give it up to those who can truly grasp what secrets lie hidden within its depths. Winston, we have science and technology on our side. If you cannot unlock the orb's power as soon as possible, leave it to me. I will come to retrieve it, and work it out myself."

"It will not be necessary." Feeling somewhat possessive over the one possible hint they had over the Cultist's powers, let alone his identity, Winston was not as keen to let it slip from his fumbling fingers –not to the likes of Moira, at least.

She might be a capable, genial scientist, but… he'd never truly liked her. So maybe it was just his personal bias talking, yet… he wished to move at his own pace.

"We'll have to see. You have a week, Winston. Otherwise, I'll have to make… a personal trip myself. I feel like you might need all the help you can get."

The communication cut off, and not a second too late, as Genji made his way inside the lab in a hurry.

"Oh, Genji! Welcome back! I thought you'd gone with, uh, your friend?"

Genji blinked and looked up. He had been focused entirely on the orb, almost not noticing Winston's presence there, but when he saw him, his shoulders slumped a little.

"Ah, yeah, but I… he had something else to do, so I came back early. Who was calling just now? Gabriel?"

"No, he hasn't called in a bit, actually, uh," Winston scratched his cheek, gently putting down the stack of papers back on the table. "I wish. No, it was Moira."

"… oh." Genji did not bother to hide the displeased grimace.

"Yeah, well. She's quite interested with our new freeloader here," Winston jabbed one finger at the orb, and Genji's attention zoomed on it again. "I might be unable to offer much company for the rest of the week, if we don't find out something good about it, she's going to visit to do it herself." He paused, hesitated, then added "in fact, I believe she will come regardless, so… uh. When did Angela have her exams again?"

"I'm not telling her!" Genji took a step back, raising both hands in a defensive position. "Listen, call Fareeha. We can work for a weekend without Angela, it's not a problem."

"She might want to stay for longer than just a weekend, I fear." Winston frowned, his expression stormy. "She expressed a particular, uh, interest on the Cultist."

Genji stiffened. "Do you think she wants to try and… do things her way?"

"Probably. We've had no luck with finding the Cultist at all, so far. She could offer aid we sorely need, bring some agents to spread around the city. It'd free some of your time, and uh, allow you all to focus more on the other monsters."

"It's not her responsibility to deal with that creature!" Genji caught himself before he could yell, but it did not stop the sharp edge from bleeding into his voice anyway.

"Genji." Winston's stern voice made him stutter. "It is not about that. I understand how you feel about this city, how much pride you take in being able to protect the citizens here, but…" he hesitated, pushing his glasses up his nose with two big fingers, "We have to think about the casualties that could happen if the Cultist chose to attack with his army. If Moira decides to hunt him down, then… let her."

It was obvious from his tone that he disliked the idea, and that he did understand Genji's feelings, but he had to be responsible, as he should. Genji's hands curled into tight fists at his side, and again, a flicker of something burned its way through his chest.

Neither Genji nor Winston noticed the small spike in the graphs on the screen, though later, when alone, Winston would puzzle about it, not knowing its cause.

"What if… what if he won't?"

"That is incredibly irresponsible to choose to believe, Genji. He is a monster, and Angela is right. Believing in the best of people, of omnics –it's one thing. But such creatures are not… not like the rest of us."

Genji looked at the orb again, feeling at loss.

"I will have to try and prepare more of these," Winston, already turning his attention back to his work, jammed his far-too-big fingers on the keyboard of his computers, tapping away. "If we could find a way to remove more of these weapons from the Cultist, we might weaken him enough… oh! I could try to see if I can track him through these–"

He barely noticed Genji leaving the room, far too engrossed in his calculations to pay much attention.

"Oi, what wriggled in your suit and got you so upset?"

Genji straightened his back and looked at what was left of the park after he had completed the exorcism of the monster, feeling drained and peeved.

"What?"

Behind him, the Masked Vigilante shuffled closer, twirling his pistol expertly in his hand before sliding it back at his side. "You've got a mask on but anyone can see you've got things on your mind, Green sentai. Want to talk things out?"

With a sigh, Genji made an aborted motion to rub at his face with his hand, realising he could not do that with a mask on. "Nothing, it's just…"

"… long day?"

"No. I mean… not any longer than normal."

It had been an easy mission, all things considered –a simple monster slipping undetected into a park, terrorizing people, so he'd been sent on his own, and the Masked Vigilante had happened to be there as well, so they had joined forces. Nothing too stressful.

"Then I'd suggest you to rent a masseur, the tension in your back's so visible you could use it to sharpen your blade."

Genji snorted. "That's horrible."

"Why, thank you, I do my best to always offer the worst jokes around. If not me then, who?" he wriggled his eyebrows, and Genji had to chuckle at that. "Now, want to spill?"

Genji kicked a pebble and watched it roll among the debris.

It was true he could not bring up his doubts about the Cultist with his team anymore without making them more worried about him, and Winston, who might have wished to listen to him normally, was far too busy studying the orb to give him much time, so… talking with the Masked Vigilante might actually help, in a way.

He was not one of the sentai, but was still a hero… though Genji was not sure what he looked for, either. He was the first who kept second guessing himself, and having yet another person tell him off for being willing to give a monster a chance would only worsen his mood.

Yet, Genji could not stop thinking about it, now more than ever before.

So, he spilled everything. Or well –as much as he could tell his fellow hero without compromising his own identity as Genji. He told the Masked Vigilante about the Cultist, and how somehow he got the feeling that things were not as they seemed. He explained about his gut feeling, but kept under wraps the situation with Stephanie, not wishing to disclose that part yet, as it was still too raw for him.

In the end, he simply said he had proof that a victim of the Cultist, which he had freely admitted to, was in fact not dead, and he had no idea what that could mean.

"I don't know what to do about him. I thought I could seek him out somehow, to… talk, maybe? But he is good at hiding, and if we couldn't find him before, why would that be any different now?" Genji wanted to ruffle his own hair, but with his mask on, he could not do that either, so he settled for crossing his arms on his chest instead. "And… well. Our last encounter, he… I don't think he wishes to talk with me anymore, or.. I guess in general? He seemed to want to try to convince me to listen to him before, but this time… he tried to goad me on purpose, then left."

It could be the monster had given up on his schemes –regardless of what he'd wished to obtain with directly targeting Genji, if there was no positive answer then he had decided it was not something worth pursuing any longer, which explained his sudden change in attitude…

"And then–" he lifted both arms in the air to express his frustration, "my team is convinced he's been trying to lure me in with some mystical powers that only seem to apply to me, apparently. I can understand, but… why me, specifically? A– White sentai is the one who's more open to listen and… well, not with monsters, though. Okay, but… my point is that it makes no sense. If he wanted to lure us in a trap, being this obvious makes no sense! He's creating his own army but they never do any sort of damage, nor do they appear at all. When dealing with everything else he's sneaky and cautious so we never catch him no matter how hard we look yet when he deals with us, when he tries to get us to listen… he's upfront about it?"

It felt good to air his frustrations, every little thing he'd noticed that the others had brushed off, one by one, but tallying it all together made it feel more real to him –less of a 'delusion' and more like just pointing out things that existed.

"I know I can't expect my teammates… my friends… to support me when I can see their point. These monsters are… well, I fight them. I don't know why this one's different, but… I know it is! He acts like… like a person, not just… the way the other monsters are."

As he spoke, voice raising the longer he thought about it all, the Masked Vigilante remained quiet, simply listening. He never made a sound to let Genji know he was listening, but he never looked away from him, observing him closely, and Genji knew he was actually listening attentively.

It felt good to have someone take his thoughts seriously.

"Part of me feels like it would be a mistake to sneak past my teammates to do things on my own like this. We're a team, but they believe it's for the best if I do not do anything, because the Cultist is dangerous and we do not know what kind of powers he might be hiding, yet…"

He trailed off, frustrated, and this time, Masked Vigilante did speak up. "Yet it's enough to get you bothered, but you don't know what to do with it?"

"Yeah!"

"Sounds to me like you should roll with it."

"Yeah, I… wait. What?" Genji looked up at him, surprised at the casual tone.

He could only see part of the Masked Vigilante's face –considering that, as his name implied, he had a mask on to keep his secret identity safe– but there was an amused edge to his voice that made it sound like he was smirking.

"Aren't you supposed to… I don't know, chide me about not doing dangerous stuff?" bewildered about the other hero's attitude, Genji parted his arms wide in a gesture meant to encompass the entire metaphorical situation. "I plan to seek out the Cultist on my own. A dangerous monster with one hell of a bad fame and a list of casualties under his name that is twice my height, if not higher."

Instead of going for the obvious joke at the expense of Genji's height, the Masked Vigilante chose to keep on track. "Yeah, and I'd prefer if you didn't, because I feel he could slice you up for good… but –look, man. You're a good guy, and I've seen you fight. You've got one hell of a good instinct going. If you think something's up with that creature, I believe you. Though I… don't like him. Can't feel anything you've said, for me he's just that –a monster. Yet you see something there that seems worth pursuing, and I can't say it doesn't make some degree of sense, and… no matter what that is, I feel you won't be satisfied until you go through with this. And of all heroes, I think you're the one who can pull this off and come out of it unscathed, Green sentai."

Touched by the plain tone in the Masked Vigilante's voice, it took Genji a few seconds to answer.

"I… wow. Thank you?" a small laughter bubbled up to his lips, muffled by his mask, and he rubbed the back of his head, feeling sheepish but incredibly relieved. "I thought…"

"Yeah, I don't think I'm cut for this supportive bullshit. I tend to give very bad suggestions here." The Masked Vigilante shrugged. "That's why I got to come with you. You know, for support. And to make sure you _do_ come back unscathed, yes?"

The laughter that burst out of his lips surprised both Genji and the Masked Vigilante, who echoed it with his own chuckle.

"You're crazy," Genji told him, leaning forwards enough to deliver a well-placed punch on the masked Vigilante's shoulder.

"Takes one to know one, Green sentai."

"Yeah, probably."

"So, what's the plan?"

Genji blinked, then cleared his throat. "I… uh. I don't really have one." Embarrassed when his words got a louder laugh in reply, Genji hunched up his shoulders and turned to pace around the destroyed garden, feeling all of sudden brimming with energy. "I never got to think about it since I didn't expect to get any support, so I… have no idea. I need to think."

"Well then, two heads are better than one here, though I can't really make the call with the one you've got. Seems a 'lil bit too small to be much of use, so you'd better leave the thinking to me."

"As if!" lips pulled up in a smile, Genji shook his head. "Let's find some other place to talk. It might… take a while."

"At your heels, Green sentai. Lead the way."


	6. Chapter 05

Hi! I hope you like the new chapter :D

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Rating** : Mature for fighting scenes n the like, just to be safe

 **Warnings:** none.

…–…–…–…–…–…

 **Chapter 05**

It was rare for Zenyatta to leave the premises of the city.

Despite how easy it was to move around even as a monster –the nanites helped disguise him if he needed it– there were still fewer spots to use to hide once in the outskirts, so he rarely went there, but… there were times his soul was in turmoil, and all he needed was a place where he could look at the sky and see the stars.

Due to that Zenyatta sometimes left the security of the underground labyrinth he called 'home' and moved to the edges of the city, where the houses were scattered apart and there were more trees, more vegetation, and a clearer view of the sky.

He missed the clear view he had when he still lived in Nepal, with nothing to pollute the stars glittering ahead on the clearest nights, so anything that could let him feel even a fraction of that feeling was welcome.

It was not just so he could reconnect to his centre, but also because with far less people in the outskirts, the sheer volume of Discord he sensed constantly from those living in the city lessened, allowing him a moment of respite.

Before the change, he'd been able to sense both Discord and Harmony in a similar way, though duller, perhaps, but now he could hardly ever feel Harmony anymore, while it was so easy to sense Discord, so much he did not even need to reach out for it. The nanomachines that were now part of him had amplified his powers in ways Zenyatta had never thought could be possible, but there were times it was all too much –the pain, the distress, the Discord…

As usual, he only kept some of his mala on himself, the others spread across the city, a continuous watch, though now he operated with only eight, as one was still in the hands of the sentai.

He had no idea where they kept it –they were actually rather competent with that, their technology was so complete Zenyatta could only receive a small set of information from the orb, and it only amounted to a masked signal that translated to a continuous white noise pulse.

At one point, the first day, he'd received a brief flicker, but nothing useful or something he could analyse –not that he wished to. That orb was now lost to him, and while he missed it greatly, he had hopes it would, one day, return to him.

After all, the orbs had been crafted together by his brother, Mondatta, and himself over long, sleepless nights at the monastery. They were part of who Zenyatta was, and though circumstances made it imperative he learned to cope with being separated from them, it still made part of him ache.

Still, he believed in the Iris.

He was already close to the last few houses of the city when he stopped, in the middle of a bigger empty lot that was a construction site, to take a break and send forwards one of his remaining orbs.

The orb floated quietly in the air, its presence masked by the nanites buzzing over its surface, and soon it was gone from his sight, though he kept receiving data from it as it advanced, checking the roads and keeping away from the streetlights, flashing him the sight of the construction site from the side, where a giant banner with the symbol of the construction corporation working for it displayed in plain view.

It took a few more minutes, with Zenyatta sitting on top of a pile of cold bricks, but then the orb signalled that there was no one in sight, so he got up and moved to follow, and then…

A flash of warning, a truck coming down the street.

With a sigh, Zenyatta waited, only to realise as he kept his optical receptors connected with his mala, that the truck was not just passing on the nearby road, but was manoeuvring to enter the construction site instead.

Tilting his head, curious –usually no one did overtime in the city, so this was quite unheard of– Zenyatta moved to the side, hiding himself from sight and feeling the nanites that were part of his body flicker and flutter, helping mask his presence with deflecting tech.

His orb following the truck closely, so he could know where the driver was at all times and prevent himself from being discovered, Zenyatta waited.

The truck stopped somewhere in the lot he'd just vacated, wheels crushing the debris and the rocks with a loud noise, then he heard doors opening, and the sound of feet falling on the ground.

"Let's move quickly, I want to get out of here as soon as possible." The voice was metallic, so it had to be an omnic speaking, while the one who answered back right after was human.

"Yeah, yeah, no need to get bossy with me. Just grab the keys and open the back, I'm going to get the boxes out now."

Zenyatta's processors received the data from his mala, and though it was dark and the construction site was unlit, he could easily see the two unload three metal crates on the ground, aided by the truck's headlights.

The omnic was a builder type, with a three-point array on their forehead and bigger pistons at the base of his head, arms built for heavy lifting, but so was the human following him, whose built was similar, if only organic.

Zenyatta allowed his attention to waver –it was not his business what kind of overtime workers had to do to pay their bills– but then it refocused on the logo on one side of the truck, which he'd seen before somewhere.

It was… a spear, maybe, or a three-point trident pointed downwards, silver on a dark background, and there was no identifying name or brand anywhere on the truck. It was not the same as the logo of the construction site.

Since there was nothing else to do until the men left, Zenyatta kept the orb trained on them.

The crates they carried appeared to be heavy but not too big, and they placed them in a corner of the site, mumbling to one another.

"… are you sure it's safe?" Zenyatta tuned in as their voices carried over to his auricular receptors. "I heard we got told to handle these things with care."

"I was assured they are still dormant, but will activate tomorrow and disperse. Nothing to worry about, just open the crates and leave."

"… don't really trust that shit. What are these even for?"

"We are not paid to wonder things. Just deliver, open and run away. Nothing else. Shut up and start with this one."

"Aren't you curious though? Like… I was told nothing."

"I heard it's got to do with monsters but it's not officially paid for, so they have to do it like this."

"… makes no sense to me."

"City regulations maybe? Who the fuck knows. I don't, and I don't even live here. Let's just get this done, I have a date later."

"Ooooh, that pretty lady who was eyeing you the other day?"

"Yes," the omnic's voice coloured with pride. "So I don't want to get there too late, got it?"

"Sure thing my man. Let's get these open and done with."

Zenyatta's forehead array blinked and he brought both hands together in front of him, index and thumb pressed together, and sent his orb closer to the two, feeling a trail of discord curl inside his core.

That did not sound… like normal construction work talk.

The orb hovered behind the two, far enough above their heads that it would not be noticed, so Zenyatta had quite a good view of the two as they moved to open one of the crates.

For a moment, the human man was in front of his sight, preventing him from seeing what was inside, then he shifted away, and Zenyatta could see, snug inside the crate, surrounded with protective gear to keep it from rattling, a single black sphere, no bigger than a basketball, its surface opaque and metallic.

Zenyatta recognized it right away, and his core stuttered in shock.

He was barely aware he'd moved until he found himself stepping away from his hiding spot and out in the open, and then he hastily stopped, fans spinning so quickly he could hear them in the silence of the night, loud and obnoxious, his internal charge fizzling and crackling.

The sphere was –it was…

"Let's go now, we have opened them. I don't want to be here when these things activate. I don't really want to know what they do. Just… let's go, alright? It's a long drive home."

Stumbling backwards, Zenyatta felt the nanites in his body surge up, helping to hide him as he could not return to the safety of his hiding spot before the two passed by it.

The omnic tilted his head towards him, barely, as they walked by, servos hesitating, processors recalibrating in the dark, observing, seeking, but they could find nothing, and he moved on.

The human did not even turn his way, jumping up on the truck and waiting for his partner to do the same.

Zenyatta did not move, shaking, one hand wrapped tightly around the voice box that was hidden underneath the writhing mass of tentacles on his mouth piece to prevent any noise from coming out, the other hand clenched on the nearby wall, fingers denting the metal. The orb relayed the image of the truck backing out from where it had parked, and then for a brief moment it was in Zenyatta's direct line of vision, the symbol on its side visible to his optical receptors before it turned around and drove out of the area and back into the street.

Zenyatta did not bother with waiting, then –instead he ran, stumbling and shaking, towards the crates.

His only thought was that he had to stop them –if these were similar to the sphere that had attacked him, over a year before, then they contained nanites, and they would seek out other omnics, other humans, to turn into monsters, and…

He did not make it all the way to the crates.

Without warning, his body sang with pain. It rose from inside him, burning its way through his chassis like fire, making his servos jolt and shake, and he dropped down on the ground, a startled sound of pain crackling out from his synth.

Inside his body, the nanomachines reacted to the presence of the ones inside the crates, rising so crawl all over the surface of his frame, restless and aching, and Zenyatta arched up, nails digging into the grovel underneath him, and felt an echo of the pain he'd felt once before, when he'd been first touched by the nanites.

"Nh–"

Without warning, he felt a burst of energy from the crates as one by one, they reacted to Zenyatta's presence.

In his haste to get to them, he had not considered what the nanites inside him would do when placed in proximity with the non-activated ones within the orbs, and now he could see that he'd just triggered them from their dormant state far earlier than expected.

The black spheres hovered out of the crates, buzzing quietly, as dark as the darkness around him, but Zenyatta could do nothing, overwhelmed with the painful vibrations inside his chassis, barely able to look at the orbs, unable even to extend an art towards them, and then–

–then they shot into the air, a vertical flight that lasted only enough for them to raise above the buildings of the construction area before all three of them flew away in a straight line, towards the city, and disappeared into the distance.

It took Zenyatta a few long minutes for the pain to finally lessen, though he spent them trying to crawl forwards anyway, the part of his brain that wasn't glitching at the pain busy trying to reconnect with his mala from around the city.

He needed to find the spheres before they could claim someone else.

Winston observed with wide eyes as Athena directed her cybernetic arms towards the orb.

He had worked to expand the masked area to include an entire room of the base, making sure the orb could not escape, in order to run more experiments on it and hopefully extract a sample of the tech it was made of, but it was still an incognita, and Winston kept his distance, just in case.

"I will now proceed with the experiment," Athena's voice warned him, and Winston nodded. "Attempting to extract a sample of nanomachines…"

The orb spun lazily in the air, an energy field surrounding it, but when the mechanical arms extended towards it, the eye pointing their way moved slightly, pupil constricting to focus on it.

"I wonder what the eyes are made of," Winston muttered, his eyes flickering from the orb to the screens at his side. "Are the nanomachines functioning as a camera, to record information, or are they connected to something?"

The idea that an organic monster could own nanites was still surprising, and Winston had no idea in what way the Cultist could control them, though he had to admit that he looked somewhat mechanic in the recordings he had saved up from the sentai meeting with him.

It was preposterous to believe that monsters could be anything but organic, and though they had observed some of them to have parts that looked mechanic, at a closer look they had realised it was just an appearance, and none were truly mechanic at all. They still knew so little about monsters even now, three years since they had started to appear on Earth, that any information would be welcome.

Still, if the monsters had some sort of higher intelligence, as shown in the way they could communicate with people in order to scare them, it was no stretch to assume they could create mechanical amplifiers or other tech, though so far they had never seen any… except now.

There was not enough data to understand if this was normal or a rarity among monsters, though.

When the first hand reached the orb, one thin, needle-like finger touching its surface, just an inch away from the eye, the orb twitched and the eye made a small, aborted mission to look towards the hand, but did not react in any way to the touch.

Emboldened by this apparent calm, the needle prodded at the metallic surface, and tiny fingers spread apart to attempt to suck and collect a fragment of the orb away.

Again, no apparent protests from the orb, which remained almost dormant, and allowed them to take a sample.

"That… went fine," Winston murmured, surprised. "Almost too easy. Maybe the distance between the Cultist and his weapons make them less responsive to his command… I wonder if this would be a way to incapacitate him… and yet… how much distance is needed?"

"Sample secured, Winston. Proceeding to absorb nanomachines to analyse them."

"Maximum security activated, Athena. We're not taking any chances to have you infected."

"Sample acquired successfully. Beginning preliminary scans. It might take a few hours, Winston. You should head to bed."

Blinking at her words, Winston glanced over at the wall clock, only to realise it was past midnight. "Well, I can always stay up a little longer, in case something goes wrong–"

"Negative. Your reaction times slow down whenever you miss sleep, so it would be preferable if you could follow my directive instead. I will wake you up should something happen."

Far too used to Athena's blunt, curt comments whenever they had to discuss his rest times, Winston decided not to protest and just let her win –this time. He had been working on the orb for most of the day with little success, and if he messed up something due to lack of sleep, he would just give Moira more arguments on whether she should also pick up the sentai from him.

Which… no, he would never allow that.

"Just… do wake me up, alright?"

"Of course, Winston. Now please allow me to concentrate on this."

Athena waited until Winston was gone before following him through the camera circuit of the base, suspicious about his compliance, but was pleased when she saw him actually go to his bedroom, closing the door behind his back.

Satisfied with that, she returned her full attention on the nanomachine, while making sure the orb was placed once again inside its protective dome, so she could lower the amount of power needed to keep the entire room masked from external interference and use the extra boost to keep herself separate from the nanomachine.

Most of her analysis came back negative –the nanomachine appeared dormant once separated from the orb, and since it had been already activated, it would not attack anything else, nor corrupt other things as they had been afraid it would. It was a relief, because it allowed Athena to be a little bit more free in which extra experiments she could do on it. The tests also allowed Athena to list the components of the orb, and much to her surprise, most of them were in fact materials available on their planet.

From what little blood and tissues some scientists had gathered after vicious monster attacks in other cities, it was apparent their bodies and cellular DNA structure was different and had elements that were not present on Earth, which usually comprised between half to 90% of the monster's gathered samples. The orb, though… there was only a minimal fraction of elements that were extraneous in it, and those were the organic parts that Athena had learned to associate with monsters, and it was mostly focused on what counted as the 'eye' of the orb.

The rest, though… was mostly mechanical compounds that could be found, and manufactured, entirely on Earth.

It was… weird.

It meant the monster was using materials he found here, and had not brought the orbs with him from… wherever he came from.

It also meant it had to have been built on Earth, and had ended up in the Cultist's possession later on, unless the monster, as Moira had suggested, had a way to go back and forth between dimensions.

What surprised her though was the amount of mechanical parts on it, it was… advanced, and even with the few things she could not fully analyse this quickly, it still revealed a complex set of skills that should have been entirely alien to the monsters.

If more of them had the chance to pick up on this…

Absorbed in her research, at first she did not notice the red alert flashing through her sensors, dulled by the protections placed in the room she was in, until finally it nagged enough that her processors read the alert and made her aware of the warning.

She pulled up a screen and connected her mainframe with the outside sensors and was left puzzled by what she felt.

Something flared up –some sort of energy, maybe, but nothing she could read– and then, just as she was scouting the area to understand what had triggered her alarms, the orb floating in the dome dropped on the bottom of its container, suddenly inert.

"Well, then." With a sigh, Athena prepared to switch to Winston's bedroom to wake him up, but was stopped by the thought that whatever had caused the orb to fall was probably responsible for the alarm warnings she was still receiving.

Deciding that checking what was happening outside was more important than waking up Winston, at least for the present time, she decided to switch to the view on the outside of the base, the cameras installed there ready for her to monitor its surroundings.

At first, she could see nothing. The streets were well lit despite it being so late at night, and there were plenty of cars and people walking around as usual. She zoomed a bit, searching, waiting…

And then she saw it.

It was hard to notice, black against the already black sky, but it reflected the light of a streetlight on its dull surface, and Athena was not human –her optical receptors were rather advanced, and could see in the dark.

It was a sphere, floating in the sky, but not at all similar to the ones the Cultist used. It was bigger in size, approximately three times in diameter, and completely black, with no eyes on its surface or anything peculiar, at least at this distance. It hovered above the streets, wobbling slightly and moving out of sight.

With a sigh, Athena looked at the available sentai in the base. Lucio was gone for one of his concerts, and Hana was in the middle of one of her all-nighters to play, as she'd been psyched up about it all day. Angela was sleeping, and Athena did not wish to wake her when she was close to one of her exams, so… "Genji? Wake up. There is an emergency."

He answered instantly, startled up from his slumber. He had been in his bed, but looked just as groggy as if he'd been sleeping on a chair.

"Wha– what? What emergency?"

"There is an unidentified flying object floating outside in the sky. It is slowly going out of range for my cameras, but it had… it is possible it had a weird reaction with the nanomachines we were studying –the ones from the orb you got from the Cultist."

Genji wiped his face with one hand, looking partially more awake at that. "A… reaction?"

"The orb dropped down, as if it lost all its energy."

"And you… what do you want from me?"

"I would like a closer look at the sphere, so if you could act as an intermediary that would be perfect. I intend to inspect the object from a safe distance, but close enough that I can investigate. If possible I would like to bring it back to study it here, or at least a sample, to make sure it is not something else that belongs to the Cultist."

"Oh. Sure. Give me a second, will you?" he hastily rolled out of bed, still in his pyjamas, and a second later he'd morphed into his sentai costume. "There. Let's go!"

Athena detached herself from the communications of the base, downloading her conscious directly into the communication device in Genji's mask. A percentage of her processors remained behind to deal with the base's protection and with the ongoing analysis of the orb and its nanomachines, but the main part was now with Genji, ready to leave. "I'll guide you to the black sphere, so follow my instructions."

With a nod, Genji jumped out of the window.

"So what do you think is it? Something… that the Cultist sent to seek out his orb?" Genji asked, glancing around.

He had no night vision, nor was it equipped to his visor, but it did have an augmented processor that made everything look a little sharper, though not as clear as it would have been with night vision.

" _Up_ ," Athena answered through his communication device. " _It is possible, either that or some kind of device that might disable the orb, making it impossible for us to study it. It has managed to bypass the shielding of the base, somehow, which should not be possible, yet it has made no attempt to come closer, and in fact it is– turn right now!_ " Genji followed her abrupt order, jumping over a ledge and then twisting in mid-air, using a railing to aid himself as he quickly bounced past a balcony and over the rooftops. " _It is moving away, but its movements are… slowed down now. Almost unsure._ "

"We'll catch up quickly with it if that's the case," Genji still could not see anything, but was grateful that this far up, the flying object was still far enough from people that even if it proved to be dangerous it would not hurt anyone. "How are your sensors working to find it?"

" _It is emitting a… radiation, almost, and_ –" Athena paused, then the communication device made a small sound, like a hiccup. " _I do not think we should ge –t too cl – o se–_ "

"Athena? Is there a problem? Is that thing shielding you?"

" _No, I… I feel like the radiation it is producing is affecting my processors, but thankfully my main servers are still at the base. If needed be, I will return there and you can make your way back as well. Do not attempt anything with it if I leave. It might be dangerous for you as well, and Winston might not like it if I endanger his precious sentai._ "

Genji knew Athena was just attempting to ease the tension with a joke, but he laughed anyway, amused by her words and even more by the fact that they rang true. Winston was not just their commander, but a friend. He cared for them, and Genji and the others cared back for him just as much.

" _Alright, it's just up ahead. Slow down, we need to keep a safe distance._ "

"Understood."

And now Genji could see it too, black against the dark sky but still visible enough even with his human sight.

It was a black sphere, moving slowly, haltingly, wobbling a little, yet as he got closer, the sphere seemed to regain speed, vibrating slightly and setting its course back to a straight line.

"Whatever caused it to stop working is not affecting it anymore," Genji murmured. "It might have been the masking devices around the base. Athena, is this close enough?"

" _I… yes. My sensors are detecting something familiar, not unlike the nanomachines inside the Cultist's orb, and yet, this feels… different. I really need a sample to understand but–_ "

"Can you still work if I get closer still? I might be able to make a grab for it."

" _Did you hear what I said, Gen– Green Sentai? You are not to get too close, especially not enough to touch it. I will send forth a probe and we will stay back and observe._ "

"But where's the fun?" Genji did not move despite his words, and watched as a small fluttery nanobot detached from the side of his mask and buzzed forwards, similar in size and shape to a little hummingbird. "Was that inside my helmet all along?"

" _It was constructed through the same technology that made your suit, yes._ "

Genji observed the small probe flutter forwards, curious and excited. If this sphere was tied to the Cultist, this was yet another tiny piece of a puzzle he hoped to unveil, and maybe securing a sample would help them –him– understand more about the elusive monster and his goals.

Unfortunately, the moment the probe was close enough to the sphere, it stopped, and–

The sphere shifted in mid-air, giving him the impression of turning around to look at him, and then instead of continuing on its way, it changed directions…

Pointing right at the probe, him and Athena.

Zenyatta had a plan.

It was not a good plan, but it was a plan nonetheless.

This was the first time in over a year that he had a chance –a hint to follow, a lead to understand his change and its causes.

He had at first believed that since the monsters were all appearing at random, the causes for his own transformation had to have been similar, and not caused by someone. Even if the thought had passed through his processors more than once, he had never, not even for a moment, believed that the cause could be someone in this universe.

All this time, he had sought out other monsters, creatures that maybe could lead him to where the first monster had appeared, and understand who had sent the orbs that changed him.

He knew nothing about whether or not monsters had the knowledge to create nanomachines, nor had the thought ever crossed his processors, but with new data came new possibilities, none of them good.

Now, he had seen a symbol, and that was enough –but he also knew there were people who sent those orbs out, people who belonged to this universe, who were… humans, or omnics, or both. Who had caused his transformation, and that of other countless unlucky ones.

Yet, that would have to wait –the spheres now wandering over the city, triggered by the presence of Zenyatta's nanomachines, had the precedence. It was his fault, though he had no idea they would react this way, and now he needed to make sure to keep them from others.

Still, if they had reacted to him this way, he could use that to direct them away from others, and he'd left enough of his orbs around the city that he could attempt just that.

Zenyatta was not fast –when he could still float he was used to moving calmly, but he had not been quick even before then, due to extensive damage to his legs caused by some anti-omnic protesters in his earlier years; the nanomachines had changed him yet they had not fixed the damage, so even as a monster he did not move much, but he used the nanomachines' powers to cloud himself and make it seem like he moved faster than he could.

Sadly that did not really help whenever he needed to be quick.

He kept a steady connection with his orbs and then sent the remaining ones he had on himself to join the rest, all eight scouting the city for a chance to see the black spheres.

He caught up with the first one quickly, two of his mala chasing it in the air, grateful when he noticed it was floating unsteadily above an empty park, closed down at this time of the night. The city was populated enough that there were people out and about at any time, but if he was quick enough…

With a flick of his wrist, Zenyatta sent forwards one of his mala.

The moment it got close enough, there was an instant reaction –his mala seemed to lose consistency for a split second, vibrating and dropping down onto the grass below as Zenyatta lost control of it. He kept his optical receptors on the black orb, and could see it had also accused the closeness, as it started wobbling and moving slower, almost sluggish, though it did not stop.

This would not do. He needed something more radical in order to fully stop the black orb, and yet… he was one mala down. Zenyatta had to consider his next move carefully.

He decided to take a gamble. Instead of approaching the black sphere slowly like before, he directed his remaining mala to descend onto it from above, hoping gravity would help.

As expected, the moment the mala got close enough he lost control of it, though he could still see through it. The mala dropped down, gravity making it fall faster, and hit the orb.

This close, Zenyatta had enough time to register and secure some footage of the sphere's exterior and its composition, so he could analyse it later, but he kept his sensors and processors trained on the sphere, observing the way its surface shivered and shimmered in a manner identical to the way the nanomachines that were now part of him moved.

He felt a phantom pain through the mala but he shouldered it with a flinch, and much to his relief, the nanomachines clashing with one another seemed to react as he had expected.

The sphere plummeted to the ground, nanomachines buzzing together with the ones of his mala, and into the foliage of a tree, motionless and inactive.

Zenyatta waited, core whirring, but neither his mala nor the sphere moved from there, though he could feel the nanomachines of both mixing together, connecting–

He cut off the contact with the mala at the first hint of pain, fans spinning quickly.

That… would be enough, for now.

There was no way to tell what would happen to the nanomachines, if they would react to the ones already changed by mixing with Zenyatta, or if one type would overpower the other, but he had some time now to focus on the remaining two orbs.

With a soft sigh, he focused his attention on the other mala, relieved to see it answer once again to his orders. It was still sluggish, but active, so he directed it to the tree, far enough that it would not be caught up by what was happening, but close enough so he could keep… an eye on the situation.

His gamble had paid off, but he now had to operate with two missing mala, and with a third one in possession of the sentai, Zenyatta would have to work with only six of them. Hopefully he would be able to stop the other two spheres before they were found by someone else.

Standing up, still feeling the twinges of pain from the barest contact with the raw nanomachines, Zenyatta ran forwards, as quickly as he could, to find the second sphere.


End file.
